Rumination Journal

And do this, understanding the time: it is already the hour for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day has drawn near. So let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. — Romans 13:11-12 Advent is the season when Scripture calls us to pay attention—to recognize that God is doing something, that His purposes are unfolding even when we are tempted to drift through life half-awake. Paul’s invitation echoes the themes of the prophets: Wake up. Look up. Take notice. The night is fading, and God’s light is approaching with ever-increasing brightness. Our salvation—God’s complete, final redemption—comes closer with each passing day. Advent reminds us that we live not in a closed story but in a story that is moving toward fulfillment. Christ’s first coming anchors our hope; His second coming completes it. Paul’s language of night and day suggests that the world around us often d...

“Comfort, comfort My people,”      says your God. “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,      and proclaim to her that her forced labor has been completed;      her iniquity has been pardoned. For she has received from the hand of the LORD      double for all her sins.” A voice of one calling: “Prepare the way for the LORD in the wilderness;      make a straight highway for our God in the desert. Every valley shall be lifted up,      and every mountain and hill made low; the uneven ground will become smooth,      and the rugged land a plain. And the glory of the LORD will be revealed,      and all humanity together will see it.” For the mouth of the LORD has spoken. —Isaiah 40:1-5 Isaiah 40 opens with a word so gentle, so unexpected, that it breaks like light into a weary soul: “Comfort, comfort My people.” God does not begin with rebuke, instruction, or strategy—He begins wit...

Hear us, O Shepherd of Israel, who leads Joseph like a flock; You who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh. Rally Your mighty power and come to save us. Restore us, O God, and cause Your face to shine upon us, that we may be saved. —Psalm 80:1-3 Psalm 80 is the cry of people who know they cannot rescue themselves. They appeal to God as their Shepherd—the One who leads, protects, guides, and restores His people. Yet their plea comes from a place of deep sorrow, perhaps even confusion. They wonder where God’s light has gone, why His blessing feels distant, and why their lives seem marked by struggle. In this cry, Advent finds its expression. Advent is the season in which we name our longing honestly, without losing sight of God’s goodness. It is the season where we acknowledge both the world’s brokenness and God’s power to restore it. The refrain at the heart of the psalm—“Restore us… cause Your face to shine upon us, that we may be saved...

Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will fulfill the gracious promise that I have spoken to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause to grow up for David a righteous Branch, and He will do what is just and right in the land. In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely. —Jeremiah 33:14-16 Jeremiah spoke these words at a time when the future looked anything but hopeful. The kingdom was collapsing, the people were scattered, and Jerusalem’s walls would soon fall. Into that painful reality, God did something unexpected: He spoke a promise of restoration. Not a vague encouragement or a temporary comfort, but a specific, concrete commitment— “the days are coming… I will fulfill My gracious promise.” Advent echoes this same assurance. Even when circumstances appear broken, God’s promises stand firm, rooted in His unchanging character. He is a God who completes what He begins, who restores what has fall...