Advent Daily Reflection 2020-12-21
Zephaniah 3.14-17
Sing aloud, O daughter Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem! The Lord has taken away the judgments against you, he has turned away your enemies. The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall fear disaster no more. On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands grow weak. The Lord, your God, is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory; he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will renew you in his love; he will exult over you with loud singing
There is excitement and hope in this passage, yet it initially struck a painful note for me, bringing to mind the judgments against me, by me, and the near constant presence of my own fear of disaster, both real and imagined. Too often I find myself lingering on a momentary feeling of inadequacy, only to tumble down a rabbit hole of negativity to no good end. What if I learned to let it be just a momentary feeling and then moved on? Wouldn't I then have more to give both to others and myself? The enemy that I need God to turn away now more than ever is negativity and the urge to dwell in it. I have so much to be grateful for, which I'm always quick to acknowledge, yet for some reason I don't linger on that feeling. What if I did? In this moment, I will choose to focus on the hope in this passage and to seek comfort in the promise of renewal in His love. I turn to God to help me make this choice more often.