The Forest Through the Stumps

We continue our Advent journey together – discovering along the way the “Geography of Salvation” and the places where God is willing to go to find us in order to save us. We are still on the mountain this week – but we’ve taken a few steps further into the surrounding forest. Be careful - don’t stumble over that old tree stump! But wait – take a closer look - this stump has a surprise - there is life inside it!

Isaiah 11: 1 tells us of the wonderful surprise that from the “stump of Jesse” (that is, from the dead family line of King David) will come a king like no other. What will set this king apart? This king will have the very Spirt of God upon Him and the “fear of the Lord” will be the delight of His heart. This King will establish a kingdom of real and lasting peace on earth. A kingdom where even the most natural of enemies will find common ground and where little children will play safely (seemingly without a single adult around!)

Christians believe this King of Peace to be Jesus Christ. Advent is a time to recognize our continuing hope in the kingdom He has begun and for which we await His finishing touch. Even now, we see glimmers of it – but there are still plenty of, if you will, lions and bears and snakes and wolves out there to scare us.

The truth is: we live with a lot of fear. The question is: do we drown in this fear - or, rather, do we delight in our fear of the Lord? There is a difference – and if we truly lived in "fear" of Him – we may just find ourselves nearer to the peaceful kingdom than we ever dreamed possible.

Think about it. Pray about it. Read God’s word, and then, in the growing lights of Advent, let us continue the journey of Advent with great hope in the peaceful kingdom of the Lord.