Defined

A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices, 

He rules the world, with truth and grace,

Joyful all ye nations rise, join the triumph of the skies,

Oh come, let us adore Him,

King forever, ceasing never, over us all to reign, 
Gloria, in excelsis deo.

Oh, what a weary world we are. Covid has done a number on us all. It has brought sickness, joblessness, lockdowns, panic, fear, distrust, hate, worry, lies, division, cruelty; add that to the families who were already struggling financially or in abusive situations; add that to people already struggling with depression; add that to sicknesses already present; ... and wow. Just wow. 

So yeah, we are weary. 

No matter the age, we are weary. 

No matter the life stage, we are weary.

And then we find this:

Hope is hard. 

Faith is hard.

Joy is hard.

Love is hard. 

Weariness is hard. 

But there's always a but.

But God.

Because when we come to the end of ourselves and we see the darkest of humanity, and we feel the stress of things we cannot control and at times even understand ...

But God.

When we're thrown into the pit, all we can do is look up and hope that someone will reach down and pull us up and out. 

We can't do it ourselves.

*So then there is this thrill of hope ... *

 ~ that sudden feeling of unexplainable excitement, that flicker of light in the darkness, that quick inhale of fresh air, that shocking glimpse of freedom. That. That thrill of hope. 

*Because He rules the world. with truth and grace ... *

 ~ He rules. We don't. That pressure is off. Whew. AND He rules with truth - He knows the ins-and-outs of Covid, of vaccines, of the economy, of political leaders and influencers. He knows the truth about it all. And He rules supreme over it all. God rules. Over all. With truth. The truth is, we are all sinners and without God, we are without hope. The truth is that Jesus died with the stain of our sin on Him. The truth is that because of that, we are cleansed and made righteous in God's eyes. AND He rules with grace - when we don't deserve something good, but we are offered it anyway; forgiveness and hope, given because God is the forgiver, the Saviour. 

*So joyful, all nations rise! Join the triumph of the skies!*

 ~ From that thrill of hope because of God's supremacy over the world, because of truth, grace, forgiveness - we can have joy! We can rise up with that bubble of joyfulness tickling the insides of our bellies. The angels sang, the angels rejoiced - because they knew of the power of the babe in the manger. They knew what His arrival meant. They knew the profundity of that moment. They knew that there was hope for humanity at the birth of Christ. They knew the triumph, the victory. So nations, rise! Nations. Not just the people in church on Christmas Eve. Back to the world that He rules ... world, rejoice! There is hope. Always. Even in the weary.

*So come now, and let us adore Him.*

 ~ Adoration. Deep love. Deep respect. Worship. Adore Him. That little belly tickle? That quickening in spirit? Yes. That call to worship from the deepest parts of your being. God put that longing there. Our souls long to worship. We just don't always adore the right things. But Him, oh yes, adore Him.

*Because He is King forever, ceasing never, over us all to reign.*

 ~ No matter how much defiance, hate, disagreeing, arguing ... ultimately, it doesn't matter. Because He is King and you can't take Him off His throne. He will always reign. Always. And really, that should come with relieft. Because He doesn't get weary. We do. So in that fact alone, He's a better King that we could ever be. 

*Gloria, in excelsis deo!*

 ~ Glory to God in the highest! Our response. Our shout from the heart of adoration. Joy to the world! Let us adore Him! May all glory be to Him forever and ever. 

Because HE is holy, holy, holy. The Lord God Almighty. Who was. Who is. And who is to come. Joy to the world, the Lord is come. 

He's coming back for His people. Joy indeed! 

Are you weary? 

I am. I really am. 

But God.

So, go, sing the carols. May they inspire you to truly think about the words you sing. There's a lot of hope there for a weary heart. 

(The song lines above are from: "O Holy Night", "Joy to the World", "Hark the Herald Angels Sing", "Oh Come All Ye Faithful", "We Three Kings", "Angels we Have Heard on High". Just in case you want to sing.)