Advent Day 17: Joy Frays a Way

My prayer is this today: 

Thank You for stirring my heart, 

O LORD, 

as You prepare my mind, spirit, and body for Your coming. 

May this season of preparation lead me 

to honor and serve You 

as I patiently await Your righteous Kingdom. 

In Jesus' name, I pray. 

Amen!

Life on earth is a season of preparation. It is but a dress rehearsal for the greatest show there will ever be -- an eternity spent with the Father of the ages. As such, the bumps and detours we face on our journeys, the woes and trials that befall us are simply part of the process of securing truths into our minds/hearts and drawing us closer and closer to this awareness:

We need God.
We need God to come.
We need God to come for us.

The Coming One has a message of grace and comfort. Arrayed in light and love, it is the Messiah's intention and decision to spare no expense for our salvation. He is well aware of our inability to see and receive Him unless a path is frayed to facilitate communication between God and humanity. 

In the words of Samuel Gordon, “Jesus blazes a clear way through every thicket and woods, and then softly calls, ‘Follow me. Let’s go on together, you and I.’ ”

Personally, His blazing hand continues to fray a road within me. He uses friends and foes, joys and sorrows, successes and failures, counselors and counselees, rest and sleeplessness, wealth and want, life and death to beckon me sweetly, "Follow me, Lou. Let's go on together, you and I."

This beckoning is hardest to perceive and accept in seasons of grief, heartbreak, disappointment, and concern. And so I am grateful that Advent 2014 is causing me to realize anew that my tears are indeed seeds -- "Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy!" (Psalm 126:5, ESV) -- and that my trials are tests heavenly designed to prepare me for the ultimate coming of Christ.

The Dayspring will come. He will use my tears to water the soil of my heart and render it fruitful for His Kingdom. He will turn my weeping into joyful singing to bring others into the fold of Christ's comforting love. He will turn my fretting into joyful surrender to His more than perfect plan.

"O come, O come, Immanuel."