Brown Eyed Girl

A letter Zach recieved from Ransomed Heart Ministries...very moving

Dearest Friends,
Advent season is upon us. (How did that happen? What happened to the fall?) Ready or not, December is here. It really can be a beautiful time of year, spiritually speaking, if we don’t let the madness of the world crowd the Spirit out. With that hope in mind, let me offer a few thoughts about what Advent might mean for us. Advent means “coming.” To celebrate Advent means to celebrate God keeping his promise. He came. Just as he said he would. For thousands of years God promised his people that he would come and rescue them. He promised it in the Garden, and kept promising it all through the Old Testament. It was a long time to wait, from their point of view. But he did come, as Jesus of Nazareth. God came, and rescued us, and brought us to his heart, to be his own forever.
It’s good to stop and remember. He kept his promise. He came. We can trust him. We need this season to remember God came because so much of life seems to shout at us, “He’s not coming now. Not in this. You are on your own.” Doesn’t it? I mean, my personal crises of faith are in the here and now. Yes, I know God has come through for me in the past. But for some reason, doubt and fear rush in with the next crisis. Will he come now? In this? That is where Advent can help us. We look at the evidence: God keeps his word. He came. He can be trusted. Whatever the evidence of the moment seems to say, God promises never to leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5, which is best understood in the light of Joshua 1:1-9).
So we can say to ourselves, This moment is no exception. God came for me. He will come for me now. But there is even more to Advent. Not only is it an opportunity to reflect – for several weeks – on the fact that God came, it is also an opportunity to lift our eyes towards his return. He will come again. This story is rapidly moving towards a climax, when Jesus returns in bodily form, mounted on a white horse, to usher in the Kingdom of God. There is a Second Advent we are waiting for. Thus in many churches the “Mystery of Faith” is pronounced every week: Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again. He will come again.
Reassurance, and a time of longing and hope. Reassurance because God comes. He doesn’t abandon us. Not now. Not ever. It can be a time of hope and longing when we say to ourselves, And he is coming back. And all shall be well. I do pray this is a wonderful season for you with God. Whatever else may be going on – dreams realized, dreams seemingly lost – we have God. We have his word that he will come for us. Come, Lord Jesus. Come.