casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
1 Peter 5:7, ESV
Our God is omnipotent and omniscient, knowing everything we go through and how to either help us or comfort us. Give all your worries and problems to Him. He can handle what we cannot.
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
Psalm 147:3, ESV
We fail. Sometimes the world is too harsh. Yet God came to us to free us from sin and heartache, and He empowers us with the Holy Spirit to overcome failure, shame, and pain and to have hope for eternity.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”
Matthew 5:4, ESV
As the saying goes, it’s okay to not be okay. In fact, we must realize our sinfulness and that we have wounded God. Not just wounded, but our sins held Jesus to the cross until He died.
When we mourn our sin and its destructive, killing power and offense to God, then we can find comfort and forgiveness in the resurrected Savior.
The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.
Zephaniah 3:17, ESV
God loves us, saves us, comforts us, and rejoices in our salvation and good works done in His Name by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4, ESV
Good doesn’t need to deal with the effects of sin, but He chose to come to us, shine His loving light of redemption, and comfort us in His grace and mercy.
Now, we can carry that light and comfort to this lost and hurting world in His name.
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
Psalm 91:1-2, ESV
We are surrounded by a world hostile to God and His people, but He has promised to be with us until His physical return when we are together forever. Trust in the One who came to save us and be with us.
But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.”
Matthew 2:19-20, ESV
At Advent, we look back at why Jesus had to come, that He came, and then that He will come again.
Jesus came to live amongst us, bringing danger to His earthly family.
The promises we get from God are that those of the world will hate us for following Him, so it is dangerous to follow Christ. (John 15:18-25)
We still see that God protects His own.
The one who tried to kill fellow image-bearers in an attempt to destroy God had died, and God told Jesus’ family they could safely return home.
Likewise, we know that we face dangers from those in this world who want to do the same as Herod, and sometimes this includes our own thoughts and actions.
Yet, God came to us, defeating the power of Satan and this world, showing He still protects His own.
So we also know that this world is not our home, and Christ has defeated the power that still influences our lives. (John 16:33)
Christ has shown us how to live and trust and love in the midst of danger.
He did not give in, but He made a way for us to join Him in our eternal home.
May we seek the Lord who has saved us from sin and protects us from the ultimate effects of sin.
Do we truly love the Lord our God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strengths? Maybe I can help with the mind part, at least! This is Daniel M. Klem, apparent poet, reluctant yet passionate Disciple (Peter?), and foolish man attempting to understand theology!