Small Wonder: A Christmas Devotional Journeyনমুনা

Disappointment and wondering

Advent is a season of waiting. Not all waiting is hopeful. Some of it is weary.

God's people had waited through centuries of silence and oppression. They had known disappointment, promises unfulfilled, prayers unanswered. So when John appears in the wilderness, stirring hearts and baptising with authority, something fragile begins to rise: a small wonder. Could this finally be it?

They came out to the desert and lives were changed, even tax collectors and soldiers came to him in hope. And though John wasn’t the messiah, he helpfully prepared the way – because when Jesus the Messiah did come, it wasn’t in the way they expected.

There are moments in life when we think we’ve finally got all we were hoping for – that job, that relationship, that house – but after a while, those things turn out to be not quite all that. Two months in, our new colleagues aren’t as shiny as they looked from the outside, the new relationship hits its first argument, or the house that looked beautiful in summer is drafty in the winter.

Advent reminds us that even in disappointment, God is still at work. Disappointment is not the end of the story. Keep hoping. Keep wondering as you look for God’s hands at work in the world.

Prayer

God of the waiting and the wondering, You know the weight of disappointments I carry. You know how hard it can be to hope again. Kindle in me a small wonder, brave enough to believe You may still be at work.Teach me to lean in, to listen, to wait – even when my heart is tired. Amen.