December 8, 2022

Advent Devotional December 8, 2022

Scripture

Psalm 126

1 When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,
    we were like those who dream.
2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter
    and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then it was said among the nations,
    “The Lord has done great things for them.”
3 The Lord has done great things for us,
    and we rejoiced.
4 Restore our fortunes, O Lord,
    like the watercourses in the Negeb.
5 May those who sow in tears
    reap with shouts of joy.
6 Those who go out weeping,
    bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
    carrying their sheaves.

Devotional

The Rev. Mike Haddox ’12, DMin student

“I’m painting an elephant, daddy, I’m painting an elephant.” I looked across the table at my 3 year old, totally consumed in his work, filled with joy, painting his favorite animal.

Later, when the painting dried, the joy quickly faded. He came over to look at his elephant and was disappointed and confused. In his initial excitement, he was certain he was painting an elephant. Now the colors had drained into a giant pile of brown and the excitement gone. He wanted to know where the elephant went.

“Elephant?"

"It’s right there!”

Without saying a word, he brought me a paintbrush. He trusted his dad to do something with the paint brush that he couldn’t. As I began to fill in some lines and details, the excitement grew. He started to see his elephant. In moments his imagination picked right back up, and the joy returned, as his "Elephant?" became “Elephant!”

In the course of a lifetime, we will have moments where our masterpiece gets lost in the messiness of life. Israel finds themselves there in Psalm 126. However, they remember who God is, and what God can do when God is in control. So in anticipation, they hand that control over to God, and look forward to their mess becoming God’s masterpiece.

The world is messy, and we often feel that chaos in our life. As we prepare this Advent season, may we recognize God’s control and eagerly anticipate the working of a divine masterpiece in our life.

Prayer

Almighty God, we remember the blessing of your Word becoming flesh, and the blessing of creation through the life of Jesus. May we look not to ourselves, but to you, as the one who faithfully provides all that we need. Amen.

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