The famous Christmas carol, \u201cO Holy Night,\u201d has a lyric that might resonate with many of us this year: \u201cA thrill of hope! The weary world rejoices\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As we enter the Christmas season as a community, do you feel WEARY?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Physically or mentally exhausted by hard work, exertion, strain, fatigued, tired? Impatient or dissatisfied? Weary of\u2026(you fill in the blank\u2026)\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019re all definitely weary of 2020.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You are not alone.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I believe that being worn out by 2020 isn\u2019t anything to be ashamed about. I\u2019ll go a step further and say that being weary is a perfectly acceptable way to approach Christmas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Christmas exists to remind us that while darkness surrounds us and silence taunts us, God is at work, and hope is never far away.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Does it seem impossible to feel hopeful this year?\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Isolated from those we love?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Enduring financial loss?<\/p>\n\n\n\n A job? A business? A dream?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Relationship strain, a fractured friendship, fear, distrust\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Death, grief, and disappointment have been unwanted visitors to all of us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like a being adrift at sea, hopelessness seems to pull us further from shore like a tide, and before long, we can no longer see the land. No matter where we look, all we see is darkness. The strain of sickness, death, injustice, and pain seems too great.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Or, perhaps we aren\u2019t lost at sea? Maybe we\u2019re just tired? Not lost, just numb.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCancel Christmas! Let\u2019s pack it in and try again next year!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n After all, what\u2019s the point?\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n We can all relate, but instead of feeling guilty for wanting to skip the festivities this year \u2013 acknowledge the very real darkness that has settled upon our world this year. Then, you\u2019ll have eyes to see as those who waited for Jesus the Messiah thousands of years ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n God was silent for 400 years. His people were scattered, many oppressed under a Government they didn\u2019t choose, scraping out an existence without much joy. Forgotten. Promises seemingly broken by the very God they had been told to trust. No end in sight, no rays of light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Imagine how the people must have cried out to a silent God! (400 years since the prophet Malachi) For justice. For deliverance. Or simply for hope to make it one more day. How LONG WILL IT BE UNTIL OUR SALVATION COMES? But it was too dark. God was too distant. Silent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Can you relate a bit?\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Perhaps Christmas isn\u2019t coming at the worst possible time to cap an already impossible year.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Maybe this is precisely what we need, right when we need it!\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2020 cannot undo the beauty of Christmas. But it can enhance it if we open our hearts to see it!\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n To those waiting on the Messiah, God may have felt far away to them \u2013 but God was so much closer than His people knew \u2013 Gently planning Jesus\u2019 entrance into the world. A silent night, a weary world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A holy night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The coming light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A weary world rejoices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s why being weary is a perfect way to approach Christmas this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After all, what is Christmas if it doesn\u2019t remind us that while darkness surrounds and troubles exist, the hope of Jesus is never far off?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The famous Christmas carol, \u201cO Holy Night,\u201d has a lyric that might resonate with many of us this year: \u201cA thrill of hope! The weary\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":551,"featured_media":53001,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":60,"footnotes":""},"categories":[87],"tags":[107,108,109,110,111],"class_list":["post-52997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-encouragement","tag-advent","tag-christmas","tag-god-with-us","tag-immanuel","tag-o-holy-night",""],"blockli_fields":{"post_type":"","post_action":"","post_type_icon":"","background_image":""},"bb_bookmark":{"bookmark_id":0,"is_bookmarked":false,"bookmark_date":0},"app_bookmark":{"bookmark_id":0,"is_bookmarked":false,"bookmark_date":0},"comments_count":"0","content_native":[{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":" The famous Christmas carol, \"O Holy Night,\" has a lyric that might resonate with many of us this year: \"A thrill of hope! The weary world rejoices\u2026\"<\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"The famous Christmas carol, \"O Holy Night,\" has a lyric that might resonate with many of us this year: \"A thrill of hope! The weary world rejoices\u2026\""}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":" As we enter the Christmas season as a community, do you feel WEARY?<\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"As we enter the Christmas season as a community, do you feel WEARY?"}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":" Physically or mentally exhausted by hard work, exertion, strain, fatigued, tired? Impatient or dissatisfied? Weary of\u2026(you fill in the blank\u2026) <\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"Physically or mentally exhausted by hard work, exertion, strain, fatigued, tired? Impatient or dissatisfied? Weary of\u2026(you fill in the blank\u2026) "}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":" We're all definitely weary of 2020. <\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"We're all definitely weary of 2020. "}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":" You are not alone. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"You are not alone. <\/em><\/strong>"}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":" I believe that being worn out by 2020 isn't anything to be ashamed about. I'll go a step further and say that being weary is a perfectly acceptable way to approach Christmas.<\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"I believe that being worn out by 2020 isn't anything to be ashamed about. I'll go a step further and say that being weary is a perfectly acceptable way to approach Christmas."}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":" Christmas exists to remind us that while darkness surrounds us and silence taunts us, God is at work, and hope is never far away. <\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"Christmas exists to remind us that while darkness surrounds us and silence taunts us, God is at work, and hope is never far away. "}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":" Does it seem impossible to feel hopeful this year? <\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"Does it seem impossible to feel hopeful this year? "}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":" Isolated from those we love?<\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"Isolated from those we love?"}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":" Enduring financial loss?<\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"Enduring financial loss?"}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":" A job? A business? A dream?<\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"A job? A business? A dream?"}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":" Relationship strain, a fractured friendship, fear, distrust...<\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"Relationship strain, a fractured friendship, fear, distrust..."}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":" Death, grief, and disappointment have been unwanted visitors to all of us.<\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"Death, grief, and disappointment have been unwanted visitors to all of us."}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":" Like a being adrift at sea, hopelessness seems to pull us further from shore like a tide, and before long, we can no longer see the land. No matter where we look, all we see is darkness. The strain of sickness, death, injustice, and pain seems too great. <\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"Like a being adrift at sea, hopelessness seems to pull us further from shore like a tide, and before long, we can no longer see the land. No matter where we look, all we see is darkness. The strain of sickness, death, injustice, and pain seems too great. "}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":" Or, perhaps we aren't lost at sea? Maybe we're just tired? Not lost, just numb. <\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"Or, perhaps we aren't lost at sea? Maybe we're just tired? Not lost, just numb. "}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":" \"Cancel Christmas! Let's pack it in and try again next year!\" <\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"\"Cancel Christmas! Let's pack it in and try again next year!\" "}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":" After all, what's the point? <\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"After all, what's the point? "}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":" We can all relate, but instead of feeling guilty for wanting to skip the festivities this year - acknowledge the very real darkness that has settled upon our world this year. Then, you'll have eyes to see as those who waited for Jesus the Messiah thousands of years ago. <\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"We can all relate, but instead of feeling guilty for wanting to skip the festivities this year - acknowledge the very real darkness that has settled upon our world this year. Then, you'll have eyes to see as those who waited for Jesus the Messiah thousands of years ago. "}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":" God was silent for 400 years. His people were scattered, many oppressed under a Government they didn't choose, scraping out an existence without much joy. Forgotten. Promises seemingly broken by the very God they had been told to trust. No end in sight, no rays of light.<\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"God was silent for 400 years. His people were scattered, many oppressed under a Government they didn't choose, scraping out an existence without much joy. Forgotten. Promises seemingly broken by the very God they had been told to trust. No end in sight, no rays of light."}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":" Imagine how the people must have cried out to a silent God! (400 years since the prophet Malachi) For justice. For deliverance. Or simply for hope to make it one more day. How LONG WILL IT BE UNTIL OUR SALVATION COMES? But it was too dark. God was too distant. Silent.<\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"Imagine how the people must have cried out to a silent God! (400 years since the prophet Malachi) For justice. For deliverance. Or simply for hope to make it one more day. How LONG WILL IT BE UNTIL OUR SALVATION COMES? But it was too dark. God was too distant. Silent."}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":" Can you relate a bit? <\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"Can you relate a bit? "}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":" Perhaps Christmas isn't coming at the worst possible time to cap an already impossible year. <\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"Perhaps Christmas isn't coming at the worst possible time to cap an already impossible year. "}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":" Maybe this is precisely what we need, right when we need it! <\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"Maybe this is precisely what we need, right when we need it! "}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":" 2020 cannot undo the beauty of Christmas. But it can enhance it if we open our hearts to see it! <\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"2020 cannot undo the beauty of Christmas. But it can enhance it if we open our hearts to see it! "}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":" To those waiting on the Messiah, God may have felt far away to them - but God was so much closer than His people knew - Gently planning Jesus' entrance into the world. A silent night, a weary world.<\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"To those waiting on the Messiah, God may have felt far away to them - but God was so much closer than His people knew - Gently planning Jesus' entrance into the world. A silent night, a weary world."}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":" A holy night.<\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"A holy night."}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":" The coming light.<\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"The coming light."}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":" A weary world rejoices.<\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"A weary world rejoices."}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":" That's why being weary is a perfect way to approach Christmas this year.<\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"That's why being weary is a perfect way to approach Christmas this year."}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":" After all, what is Christmas if it doesn't remind us that while darkness surrounds and troubles exist, the hope of Jesus is never far off?<\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"After all, what is Christmas if it doesn't remind us that while darkness surrounds and troubles exist, the hope of Jesus is never far off?"}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}}],"app_access":{"can_access":true,"restrict_message":null},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lwrv.org\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lwrv.org\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lwrv.org\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lwrv.org\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/551"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lwrv.org\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52997"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lwrv.org\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52997\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lwrv.org\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lwrv.org\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lwrv.org\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lwrv.org\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}