NEEDING THE LORD IN ADVENT

My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?
Far from my deliverance are the words of my groaning.
O my God, I cry by day, but You do not answer;
And by night, but I have no rest.
Yet You are holy,
O You who are enthroned upon the praises of Israel.
In You our fathers trusted;
They trusted and You delivered them.
To You they cried out and were delivered;
In You they trusted and were not disappointed.
 (Psalm 22: 1-5)

2011 has been a challenging year for me. Some of the challenges are just circumstances, some of the challenges have come from folly on my part. Lately, I have been in a season where I really am reduced to relying totally on the Lord. And there have been days when the opening of this Psalm have been exactly what I have been feeling.

Usually, Christians associate this Psalm with the Crucifixion, recognizing that Jesus was crying from his very heart the words recorded centuries before. "O my God, why have you forsaken me? Why am I not delievered from this anquish?"

So why am I beginning Advent with these verses?

I'm doing it because God is indeed holy, and He has indeed delivered His people when they trust in Him. And that is the point of Advent. It is the season of a promised deliverance of salvation.

I want to rejoice in my soul. I want to celebrate God's love for His children, regardless of what lies ahead for me personally. Yes, I want to be delivered from my anxieties, I want these problems to be addressed with God's bounty. I want to trust in the Lord and not be disappointed -- in a worldly sense, I admit it. I want my daily needs to be provided for with abundance.

But even if that is what is happening inside me, it is my choice to celebrate the Lord, whatever may come.

That is why I will begin this Advent season admitting to my own frailty and fears, and yet why I will look toward the throne of God with praises. For the Lord is coming, and has come, to be among us.