Prepare the Way

Each week on Monday following the sermon, we will be posting the devotional for the week that will provide a scripture reference, a short devotional, and a prayer to help us focus in on the message and Prepare the Way!

Quick Navigation

• Week 1: Prepare the Way: Comfort in Uncertain Times
• Week 2: “Prepare the Way: Taking Down the Barriers” (December 8)
• Week 3: “Prepare the Way: The Enduring Word” (December 15)
• Week 4: “Prepare the Way: Strength Wrapped in Gentleness” (December 22)
• Christmas Eve: “Prepare the Way: Shouting Out Good News of Great Joy” (December 24)

Isaiah 40:1-2

“Comfort, comfort my people,” says your God.
“Speak tenderly to Jerusalem.
Tell her that her sad days are gone and her sins are pardoned.
Yes, the Lord has punished her twice over for all her sins.”

Have you ever found yourself in a place or time where you felt overwhelmed with uncertainty? Where you couldn’t imagine a peaceful resolution to your circumstances? Where the road seemed dark and the path unclear? Where God seemed far away? In times like this, it’s easy to give up, to hide, to lose hope that we will ever see anything new or good or different. But God…

It’s interesting to me that God rarely protects us from challenging circumstances. In fact, we can be certain that life will include uncertainty. As Jesus followers we are not exempt from difficulty or fear or anxiety or even tragedy. But God…. God says, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” (Heb 13:15) His promise is not that everything will always be as we wish it would be, but that he will be with us every season and every situation. We are not abandoned or left alone. Jesus is Immanuel – God with us! When the uncertainty of this life threatens to overwhelm us, he says to run to him, to trust in him, to fix our eyes on him. What a comfort! He is a faithful, present, trustworthy God.

In this time of transition at Hope, some of us may be experiencing fear or anxiety about the future of Hope. But God… God is with us; we don’t have to walk through this time alone. His presence, his guidance, and His peace are available to us. Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27). When we can’t see the path before us and his peace evades us, God’s invitation is to slow down, to become still, to draw near and open up to his peace. There is a beautiful gift that comes when we let go of our racing thoughts and our desire for control, and simply rest in His comfort and peace. Take a moment to read 2 Corinthians 1:3-7. Paul writes that when we experience God’s powerful presence in our troubles, we can then comfort others with the same comfort God has given us (v.4). That’s the blessing! That’s the redemption, the good that can come from the hard! When I am in the middle of uncertain and challenging times, this prayer has opened my heart to receive his peace. Consider praying it this week as you begin your day to help you set your heart on God’s peace.

In the busyness of this day, grant me a stillness of seeing, O God.
In the conflicting voices of my heart, grant me a calmness of hearing.
Let my seeing and my hearing, my speaking and my doing,
Be rooted in a silent certainty of your Presence.
Let my passions for life and the longings for justice that stir within me
Be grounded in the experience of your stillness.
Let my Life be rooted in the ground of your peace, O God.
Let me be rooted in the depths of your peace.