The Joy Of Regret Transformed
Wednesday December 19, 2012
At this time of year, as we prepare our hearts for the celebration of Christ’s birth, many may have regrets about some Christmases in their past. Dysfunctional families, addiction, poverty and loneliness are all part of our world today. God, with His foreknowledge of things to come, saw our despair and, in His wisdom sent His son to be with us. He is the promised salvation for all people. He is the light that reveals God to all nations.
Hundreds of years before Jesus was born Isaiah prophesied, “The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine.” (Isaiah 9:2 NLT) We are the people on whom the light is shining and for whom this great prophesy has been fulfilled.
At times life may seem unmanageable and we are faced with our own powerlessness. We may feel that no one understands or cares. God both understands and cares. The birth of Jesus Christ loudly conveys this message to us. Through Jesus’ humanity, He entered into our experiences and our pain. He is able to sympathize with our weaknesses. He is Immanuel, God with us.
Jesus not only understands our pain, but He came to bear it away. He went to the cross to carry our sorrow, our sin, our suffering, and our sadness – He bears the pain we felt when others disappointed and harmed us, and also the pain we feel because of those we've let down and wounded.
This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. (John 3:16-17 MSG)
Advent's invitation to us today is to hand our regrets over to Jesus and let Him put things right in our hearts and our relationships.
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