A song I’ve heard recently on the radio is by We are Messengers and its called “God With Us.” It could have been written now during the pandemic, but it was actually written in 2016.
He is with us in the season
When silence fills the home
When the lights that you once loved
Leave you aching and alone
He is with us in the distance
Between two shattered hearts
When you’re standing in the same room
But half a world apart
He is with us always
In our joy and in our pain
In the lonely midnight keep looking up
Love has come, God with us
Love has come, God with us
He is with us when the evening falls
And all the laughter fades
When the emptiness comes creeping back, creeping back
And just steals your joy away
He is with us always
In our joy and in our pain
In the lonely midnight keep looking up
Love has come, God with us
Love has come, God with us
Come on hold on now
Won’t you just stay strong
No matter how it feels, He is with us
And what you’re facing now
Know you’re not alone
Let this be your hope, He is Emmanuel
He is with us always
In our joy and in our pain
In the lonely midnight keep looking up
Love has come, God with us
Love has come, God with us
This week was filled with sickness, grief, and mounting death tolls, reminding us that we need a Savior that comes and meets us where we are, Emmanuel, God with us. The scripture on our Advent calendar for today comes from Romans 8:38-39 and is one of my favorites, “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Nothing this world throws at us will be able to separate us from that love. No amount of pain or suffering can ever separate us. God always wins. Light always prevails. No matter what, good always conquers evil….albeit eventually sometimes, but it does.
I experienced the joy of the Living Christmas Story last night. Villagers, Angels, Mary and Joseph, Gabriel, Shepherds, Wise Men, King Herod, the Innkeeper and his wife, the Census takers, the Roman Soldiers, and of course the animals. Spreading the joy of the Christmas Story. I encourage you to come out and see it tonight from 6:30 – 8:30 or tomorrow night from 5:30 – 8:30. Participate or come see the greatest story ever told. Follow the star, look to the star, it points to the coming Messiah, our Deliverer. How God loves us so much that God sent God’s Son to come dwell among us, in all of our human frailties and all of our sin. Jesus took our sin upon himself, was crucified and then was resurrected on the third day. Because he lives, we live also. He set us free from sin and death. Praying, giving thanks, serving, and singing praises are often ways to dispel the darkness around us and within us. The world desperately needs hope, joy, peace and love this Christmas and it’s up to us, moving in and with the Holy Spirit to show those Advent blessings, to bring light and to deliver the Good News that love has come, God with Us.
Blessings on the Journey 