“The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light! Those who lived in a land of deep darkness, on them light has shined!”

So says the Lord through the prophet Isaiah, some 2,700 years ago, to a people in turmoil, wondering where God was in the midst of their suffering, and whether God would intervene, and when and how.

COVID19 has turned our world upside-down for the last year-and-a-half, and there are times and circumstances where, in our weariness, we wonder the same. “Will I be able to make it through this winter? My bills increase and my income is the same and I’ve already robbed Peter to pay Paul and so on and so forth…” and then those anxieties are compounded by “Will my loved one survive this winter?” And some of us are entering into the first holiday season without one of our loved ones.

We find that we are in need of God’s light as much as our ancient ancestors, and honestly, many of the generations between. We know in our heads, of course, that God is with us, and that there is no darkness that can overcome God’s light, but we don’t always feel like these things are true.

Couple things we can do, because we’re not alone. John Wesley felt the darkness, and he was an ordained pastor! And he listened to the advice of a mentor who told him, “Preach the faith until you have it, and then preach the faith because you have it.” Kind of a fake it till you make it, and you know what? It worked. Even when he didn’t want to, he went through the motions of spiritual discipline – scripture reading and study and worship and prayer – and he began to feel that God was real, that the Good News of salvation was real.

We are not alone. And we have a community of believers who love us and will demonstrate that love if we know you’re in need. And we know that when we’re the ones in need, you’re there for us!

I think it was no mistake that the last recorded words of John Wesley were, “Best of all, God is with us!”

God is with us, and that is one of the things we celebrate at Christmas. I hope you’ll join me in some daily scripture readings and prayer! I love you and there is nothing you can do about it! – PK

Daily readings:

Dec. 15+ – Hosea 5+

Dec. 25+ – Galatians