O Come O Come Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel.
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God Appears
Advent… The season of reflecting on Christ’s 3-fold coming to earth.
His first coming to earth as a babe wrapped in flesh, born of a woman into the world, freeing us from sin and Satan through His suffering.
His coming, turning unbelieving hearts of stone into believing hearts of flesh, birthing us to new life through the Holy Spirit, freeing us from sin and Satan’s mastery.
His final coming, being revealed to all flesh in glory, vanquishing sin, Satan, suffering and death forever and ever! Amen.
Immanuel revealed again and again… From His first coming on, He is truly our “God with us.”
A lesson I learned these past few days.
O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny
From depths of hell Thy people save
And give them victory over the grave
This week, I decided… I was through. I was completely apathetic to the things of God. Maybe it was my fatigue – physically, and from constantly trying to fight sin… And failing. As one exasperated Christian once wrote in her journal “Where the @#$% is the promised power?!” (And no, I’m not that woman who wrote it – but I might as well be) I wasn’t experiencing the power… So what was the point of fighting?
Was all of this even real? The entire story is ridiculous – and I didn’t care if the Apostle Paul acknowledged as much. I didn’t care that my heart of hearts couldn’t deny the veracity of the Gospel, or that my very soul knew without a doubt that this was realer than life, than breath.
Nope. I was going to live like an unbeliever – because I pretty much felt like one. So why not give in to every lust? Why not meditate on every deliciously angry and vengeful thought? Why mediate on words that weren’t ringing true?
And why pray to this God who was not with me?
I decided to be free!
Funny, that on the first day of my rebellion I read (okay, some habits die hard)
“Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against His Anointed saying, ‘Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.” (Psalm 2:1-3)
…Huh. Well, no matter. Nothing would get in my way of enjoying life without this silent God who didn’t even give me the power to please Him.
But my plan backfired. I didn’t feel any of the joys or carefree light-heartedness I thought “taking a break” would bring. Nope. I was feeling quite miserable.
The next day as I read Psalm 16, I couldn’t deny that God was speaking. “I say to the LORD, ‘You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.’ …The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply… The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup… I bless the LORD who gives me counsel.” Those were no random words there, and they were so true – my very thoughts said that I knew that only in God was there true joy. And yet, I felt I couldn’t attain it. So I ran deeper into myself, into my hiding place of sin and despair.
I was trying to live like an unbeliever, and I was handing Satan the chains, and my flesh the lock and key.
O Come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.
Through the darkness, that seemed to climax last night into this morning, I thought about Advent – this time of not only reflection, but expectation of Christ’s coming. And not just reliving the expectation of Christmas, or the desire for His return, but the hope of His coming in our day to day lives. Something God taught me as a teen was God is not just the God of our salvation and that’s that – He’s the God of our salvation every day. He saves us daily. God is not just the Coming One who will come on the Day of the Lord – He comes to us now.
My wonderful boyfriend was encouraging me this morning that God was with me – that I wasn’t alone, even though I felt that way. And my awesome sister at work encouraged me as well – I’m not sure exactly what she said, but the tears began to fall and the darkness began to lift as I was filled with desire.
I missed God – I missed Him so much, I wanted Him. And yet, the whole time, I wasn’t alone. God wasn’t through with me. God still loved me. Immanuel.
On my way home, I repented of my rebellion and for the terrible grief I knew I was putting the Holy Spirit through. He’s blessed me with His coming today – I was singing “You’ll Come” by Hillsong today, marveling over the fact that God promises to come. If only I’d sing this at those times when I do feel empty and dry (and pray that I do), purposing in my heart not to run after other gods to fill the void, but waiting upon the Lord. Because “As surely as the sun will rise, You’ll come to us. As certain as the dawn appears…”
Immanuel. Not just in the past or the future, but now.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel will come to thee, O Israel!
