"...then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be with the Lord."
-1 Thessalonians 4:17
Advent is upon us! It’s one of my favorite times of the year because we look back and remember the story of how God wrapped Himself in flesh and sent His son into this broken mess of a world so that we could know we are NEVER alone. No matter how dark the night gets or how lost we feel, God draws near. Jesus was broken so could know we’re never alone in our brokenness. Jesus entered the grave and walked out to offer us eternal life. Jesus ascended to heaven and now sits at the right hand of the Father, but He left us with the Spirit, our Counselor to guide us into all truth, to comfort us as we mourn, to intercede for us with groans when we don’t have the words to pray, to be WITH us in all of our aching and breaking until Jesus comes back to restore everything once and for all.
My dad wrote a song to this verse back in the 70’s and I’ve always loved it. I recorded it and put it on one of my first EPs, With You Now. It’s a song about the day that Jesus will come back and make every sad thing come untrue (as C.S. Lewis puts it!). Those of us who are alive will be called up together with those who have already passed to meet the Lord in the air, and knowing that there is a day when healing and LOVE will have the final word gives me hope and comfort. I know this holiday season will look different for so many of us, and we may feel more distanced and isolated than ever before during this Advent season , but let us comfort one another with these words: We shall always be with the Lord. Emmanuel, God with us, is ever present, and my prayer is that we are all comforted by the gift of His presence with us this advent season.
