A weary world rejoices

  We live in a weary world. A world that comes with grief, anxiety, comparison, fears, poverty and people who are hurting. Some days, more than others it can feel particularly weary. It is in these times, where the line “a thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices” from the carol,  “O Holy Night” rings true. I think of one of the homeless women I came across last week. She accepted 2 sandwiches and a cup of tea from our soup run team. She was shivering . It was a freezing cold night but she had no place to go, as she was settling into a sleeping bag for the night. I am thankful that our team could give her something to eat and something warm to drink, but as always, I left wishing I could do something more.
  I wish I had the resources to build more homes, cure mental illnesses, fix family fallouts and stop addiction. I wish I could bring an end to all the these things that leave someone on the street. But I am only one person and the world is imperfect, so here we are. Even though, I can do something small to make a difference in someone’s life, it still feels weary.
 Even though we may come across things in our lives that make us weary, whether it’s something we see, something we read about in the news or something that affects us more personally, we can still have hope. We can have this hope that is Jesus.
  Now, hear my tone when I say this because maybe you are rolling your eyes and thinking, I don’t want to hear that-that doesn’t take away the pain of what I’m going through, Amy. Or maybe you’re thinking I’ve heard that all my life, it’s so cliche-the Sunday school answer to everything: “Jesus”. Or maybe this is first time you’ve heard it.
  Wherever you are with it, as I say, “we can have hope because of Jesus” I don’t say it with a painted on smile and robotic bubbly tone. I say this to you, quietly and gently. I say this to you with understanding. Understanding that life can be heavy at times. I say this with tears in my eyes as I think of things that I’ve seen that have broken my heart and things and people that I have lost. A weary person can sill rejoice and have hope because of Jesus. Jesus knows pain. Jesus knows weariness. It is because of him giving his life for us that we can be hopeful of what’s to come even in a weary world. We can have joy even in a weary world. We can tell him what weighs on us and hand it to him because we were not made to carry the weight of the world.
  So this advent season, as we celebrate waiting on Jesus, and celebrate waiting on his second coming as well; hand over the weight to Jesus and ask him to help you have hope and be hope in the midst of a world that at moments, can feel so weary.
  It’s ok if you pick up the weight again, just give it right back to him. Personally, I feel like I’m constantly picking things back up and then handing them back to him. That’s ok though, what matters is that we give the weariness over to him and talk with him about it then pick up hope. It’s ok to still feel weary or be sad about the things you are going through, come across or the things that break your heart, I’m just saying you’re not alone to hold those things. Jesus can help you hold them.

I hope this can encourage you in some way this week.
Have a great week!
  -Amy

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of became from God, prepared as a bride dressed beautifully for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.’He will wipe EVERY tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away”
-Revelation 21:1-4