Advent 10 - Isaiah 26:12 - December 7

O Lord, you will ordain peace for us,

for indeed, all that we have done,

you have done for us.

Isaiah 26:12

 

In this week of peace, I love this simple verse! All that we have done, you have done for us.

 

It strips away all pride and pretense. All that we have done, you have done for us.

 

What if more of the world submitted itself to this logic? Nations spend billions of dollars a year trying to broker peace. And after all our human efforts inevitably fail, we wind up spending trillions more on war and defense. What if more "kings" and nations were truly humble before God? What if more of the world submitted itself to God's conditions? We might just have the peace we yearned for and we might just be able to say, "All that we have done, you have done for us."

 

Now, it's easy to point at the monumental and ongoing struggles of the world and say, "If only ..." But how many of us have these struggles closer to home? We have anger, contention, betrayal, ingratitude, and unforgiveness in our own circles of friends and family. What if our Advent Adventure was humbling our own selves before God and submitting totally to his condition. Then maybe we too might be able to say, "All that we have done, you have done for us."

 

In Christ's Name,

a guy who finds it easier

to point out other people's problems

than work on his own