Advent Day Twelve

Isaiah 9:2

“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.”

Charles Wesley’s song  ‘Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus’ is one that has often caught my attention.  Sung often at the beginning of Advent it reflects the gloomy quality of a people living in the challenges and fears of the day and longing for the coming of the Messiah.  Wesley is aware that Jesus has come but expresses this intense desire that He would break through their current circumstances to bring deliverance, freedom, and hope.

The theme of this hymn reminds me of a time several years ago I was sitting in a small group and one the participants was overcome with excitement.  Needing to share their newly discovered insight they blurted out, “I’ve just come to a point of discovery!  Did you know that darkness cannot do to the light what the light can do to the darkness.”  It’s true for ‘light always wins over darkness’.  Light a candle in a dark room and the light will always triumph. 

I believe that this is the heart cry of Charles Wesley as he longs for the Light of the World, Jesus, to break through the darkness of the moment in order that people like us might experience the fullness of God’s love, joy, and peace.  When the light of Jesus breaks through in any situation it drives the fear and darkness away.  Where might you need His light to shine today?  I would encourage you to pray, “Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus”.