Advent 2022 – Day 11
Wednesday, December 7th
Anticipation
By Kellie Mzik / Season of life: 60, Associate Professor of Communication, Nana, musician, passionate knitter
Scripture
The watchers shout and sing for joy, for before their very eyes, they see the Lord
returning to Jerusalem! ~ Isaiah 52:8
For many, the Gulf War was a blip on the timeline of history. But for my family, it was pivotal. My husband was injured in a war zone, with SCUD missiles raining down on his base daily. I was home, with a newborn, a toddler, my sister (who moved in with me while getting divorced), and my niece. Every day was a challenge, and every moment was shrouded in dread and fear. What if? “Dear God, please.” But what if?… Month after month, watching the news. Praying. Trying to hold it all together – for me, for them, for his mom.
And then, the phone rang. He was coming home! We didn’t know the date, but he was coming home! And suddenly the days were brighter, the burden lighter. Anticipation filled us with joy. Nothing changed in my day-to-day, except that I knew with certainty, he was coming home!
I’m struck by the parallel with the Christian experience. Does faith in Christ and God’s gift of salvation suddenly, overnight, pay off our credit cards, fix broken relationships, or solve all our problems? No. But it lightens our burden and makes our days brighter, because we know with certainty that Christ came, and is coming again. Joy for each of us and Joy to the World!
Closing Prayer
God in heaven, we thank you for sending joy into our world, in the form of Christ.
Strengthen our faith, that we may always be watching, waiting with joy and anticipation, and trusting that as Christ has come, Christ will, indeed, come again.
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Reflections
Think of a time when you celebrated a “homecoming”. Who came home? What was the day like? Describe the moment you saw him/her/them.
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Read Revelation 21:1-5. What stands out to you most in this passage?
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In what ways could you put these feelings of “homecoming” into your everyday life, as we await the coming of Jesus one day?
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Lord God, may I “repeat the sounding joy” of who You are today!