
“Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.”
Psalm 90:1-2
“…take courage, all you people of the land, says the Lord; work, for I am with you, says the Lord of hosts, according to the promise I made you when you came out of Egypt. My spirit abides among you; do not fear.”
Haggai 2:4b-5
So, why do we wait? Why do we wait and wonder? Why do we wait and wonder and worry? Thanksgiving, the season in which we proclaim our blessings, is just past. Yet we forget our blessings. Advent, the season of promise, is upon us. Yet we forget God’s promise to us.
But the Lord does not forget. He continues to bestow blessings upon us. And He does not forsake his promise to us.
As the psalmist sings, “you have been our dwelling place in all generations…before…from everlasting to everlasting you are God.”. And as the prophet declares, “…take courage…for I am with you…according to the promise I made you…my spirit abides with you; do not fear.”
I think God may be like the deeply concerned and caring father, who, upon learning of a serious transgression committed by his young son, punished the boy by condemning him to a night alone in the cold, dark, silent attic of their home. And I think God is like that same loving father who, feeling his son’s pain and shame, decided to creep up into the attic, wrap his arms around the trembling boy, and spend that same cold, dark, silent night with his suffering son.
I believe that our God is like that father. I believe He waits and wonders and worries, too. I believe He is with us and for us, however unblessed and unpromised we may feel. Always.
Prayer: Loving Father, we give thanks that you continue to bestow your blessings upon us. We give thanks that you do not forsake your promise to us. But most of all, we give thanks that you are, indeed, Emmanuel, the Christ child…God with us and for us…from everlasting to everlasting. Amen.
Today’s reflection was written by Archer Frierson, a member of First Presbyterian Church, Shreveport.
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