Following the Star

Pause

This Advent,

Let us remember: The Lord will continue to do great things for us.

Let us testify to the Light that is God.

Let us hold on to what is good, even when nothing around us makes any sense.

Let us cultivate joy.

Listen

Lord, change our circumstances for the better, like dry streams in the desert waste! Let those who plant with tears reap the harvest with joyful shouts. Let those who go out, crying and carrying their seed, come home with joyful shouts, carrying bales of grain!

Psalm 126:4-6

Think

Even when our shouts of joy or our cries are silent, God hears them. And when they are not there, God makes room for them. In what way could you open your heart and mind today to experience this joy? There is a season for all things: the return of the exiles, the tears, but also the shouts of joy as they return.

You are doing the same. Returning to the joy that is fulfilled by God.

God assures that when we ask, we will receive. Your joy will be complete. When you intentionally seek joy, overcoming negative emotions or pain becomes easier. It does not mean that we will not suffer; it means that the suffering will pass. It means that our God restores.

Luz Cabrera Montes

Pray

Sustaining God who carries me through my pain, remind me that I will reap with shouts of joy. Amen.

Go

Choose joy, share joy, and make it a discipline.