O Come, O Come, Emmanuel....

As I stood beside my best friend in church tonight before work and sang that beautiful hymn,

"O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,
and ransom captive Israel
that mourns in lonely exile here...
until the Son of God appear.... REJOICE! REJOICE!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel."

I was struck by the likeness of the lyrics to my present life situation.... "captive".... "mourns".... "lonely"....
but then, "REJOICE!"

Christ is coming back... not just at the end of mortal time, or the rapture, or whatever you believe will happen. Christ is coming back into my life right now, and at every moment, and making me stronger, more brave, more like HIM. And, for that, I am called to REJOICE.

"O Come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
and death's dark shadow put to flight.
REJOICE! REJOICE! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel."

Although it is at times extremely difficult, I am convicted that by me handing this situation over to the Lord, He is going to disperse the hate, jealousy, anger, envy, and every other negative emotion and put them to flight out of my life. Because I know He will do this, in some way, I will REJOICE!

Lord, from this terrifying situation, deliver me. I WILL REJOICE in You.