Hope. Peace. Love. Joy.
Oh how these words echo throughout my mind during Advent. They are so important to me, that I bring them out…one by one…to boldly exclaim my excitement for Christ's birth.
Sometimes I feel like I am chasing these gifts. Most specifically, peace. I crave peace. That euphoric feeling when nothing is bothering me, when everyone is healthy, when there are no nagging little worries.
Sometimes I feel false hope. First its joy, followed by that terrifying feeling when you realize a doctor has given you an incorrect diagnosis. Or first you feel bliss, then devastation when someone you love deceives you. You wonder how you can ever put hope in anything, when everything and everyone has the potential to let you down.
Sometimes I have been mistaken about who really loves me. I have put my love and trust in people who I thought (and hoped) returned my feelings. I know and remember the pain when that illusion is shattered, when I felt the emptiness in that very place I had thought was filled with love. It became an empty, gaping hole in my heart.
And joy. I have felt joy in my hope, in my peace and in my love. Oh how quickly and vibrantly joy pops into my soul! But also, how quickly my joy can be dashed. Like those times when I'm feeling on top of the world: I'm feeling the joy of the children I teach, the sunshine on my face, the happiness of knowing my husband will be home early from work! Then I get a call from the principal at school, who is having a "discussion" with my naughty child. Or I open an email to read of the news of a dear friend with a cancer diagnosis. Or I learn of a sweet little first grader in my son's class who unexpectedly lost her mother. My joy is dashed. I feel my own pain, and I feel a fraction of the pain my friends are experiencing. And I wonder when I will begin to feel that joy again.
I am literally chasing Hope, Peace, Love and Joy. I am hunting them down with a vengeance. I am wheeling and dealing to try and place them firmly in my life. But I can never completely do it, and I'm getting really tired of trying.
Then, from deep within my frustration is a still, small voice saying,
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest in your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matthew 11:28-30
I no longer need to search. I am wasting my energy, my time, my breath. I don't need to chase anything, ever again. My precious Savior is telling me, "Wendy, my darling daughter, just come to me. I have what you need…everything." He can handle my burdens, he can give me the rest I need, the rest in my soul. In other words: my Hope, Peace, Love and Joy.
This verse is a promise! If I take his yoke upon me (His, which is easy and light) instead of my own which is tremendously too heavy for me…He WILL give me my Peace. My Hope is in this promise and He will never let me down. I am guaranteed of his Love for me forever! My Joy in Him can never be dashed, can never be snuffed out. I can rest easy in the Peace of this promise.
He has sent me countless blessings among the hardships, he has sustained me and lifted me up. He will give me the peace and the strength to survive and thrive amidst the ugliness of this sinful world. He alone makes it possible for me to continually have Hope, Peace, Love and Joy.
This is the real reason I put up these words on my front porch during advent. In a few weeks, we will celebrate the birth of the One who made me this promise. The birth of the one who will bring us all Hope, Peace, Love and Joy. Oh how we need Him! Come, Lord Jesus, quickly come!
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