Advent Devotion: Comfort and Presence
Over and over in Scripture, from the words of prophets and poets to the teachings of Jesus, we hear of God’s proximity to the brokenhearted. The Psalmist assures the brokenhearted and crushed in spirit, “God is with you right where you are.” The prophet Isaiah promises people, “if you are brokenhearted, God will bind you up; if you are held captive, God will set you free.” Jesus welcomed the crushed and brokenhearted to draw near to him, comforting them, reminding them, “blessed are you who mourn, for you will be comforted.”
Repeatedly in Scripture we hear that God adopts a stance of compassion, feeling and suffering with those in distress. Could this be the point of Advent’s hope and Christmas’s coming? The compassion of God made real.
If you find a part of yourself brokenhearted this holiday season, could you trust that God is near? If you can’t quite get into the “Christmas spirit” might you find solace in God’s coming to you, meeting you where you are, finding space in stable of your sometimes fragile life…as we welcome God’s coming, Emanual.
Want to try what’s called a “breath prayer” to experience the compassion of God? Take a moment to sit still. Focus on your breath, in and out, for a few cycles. Then, on the inhale, image inhaling this phrase from a hymn by John Moment, “God of compassion.” Hold the breath briefly. Then on the exhale, imagine exhaling the rest of the hymn’s phrase, “in mercy befriend us.” Repeat the breath cycle a handful of times. “God of compassion…in mercy befriend us.”
May all the brokenhearted know the presence of God drawn near this season.