Friday - Third week of Advent

Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will raise up a righteous shoot to David; As king he shall reign and govern wisely, he shall do what is just and right in the land.

When life is tough and difficult we easily can get discouraged. We worry about the future. And the biggest worry is the thought that God might not care about what we are going through. Every Christian will have these thoughts at times. Doubts and lack of faith can make us feel distant from God. We might even get upset with God and accuse him that he abandoned us. That is a completely human reaction in times of trouble. And more important….God can handle it. In the Old Testament Job had this reaction and even Jesus on the cross (for a short time) felt that God abandoned him. But Jesus did something important as well. He trust his soul in the hands of God…with the faith that a child would have in his parents to take care of their needs.   

What is holding us back from surrendering all our cares to God and trusting ourselves in his hands?  It is most likely a lack of faith or fear. We have at times bad experiences with other people so we think God is the same. But he is not. When we come upon hard times we should be solid in faith. We should be able to look back at the great things God has done in our life. We need to cast all our trust on Him. When God prevails in our life, He will come to our aid in due time.

That is what the Bible verse of today teaches us. “ Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will raise up a righteous shoot to David; As king he shall reign and govern wisely, he shall do what is just and right in the land”. He has the Messiah planned for a long time and it will come to pass. So will he rescue us also in his timing. Remember that many of Jesus’ followers were people like you and me. They were not perfect, on the contrary they make a lot of mistakes. Yet their faith in Him enabled them to live a life of peace. They learned to trust God completely and understood that God always keep His promises. They knew that God fulfilled the prophecy and raised up a righteous shoot to David: Emmanuel, “God is with us.” Amen.