Jesus, hear us in our weariness.
We feel pressure, stress, unrest, evil.
We are tired and worn out,
Facing all that is ahead.
You offer hope to a weary world,
And boy, do we need it.
You are Hope incarnate,
God with us forever.
You see us in our pain,
Our frustration, our disease.
You meet us in our mess,
Sitting down and comforting us.
You are the friend who knows our need,
Our weakness, our lack of power.
You walk with us through it all
Never avoiding the connection.
You don’t judge us when we ache,
When we can’t drum up the joy.
You just offer a friendship,
And joy and peace to spare.
You break the chains we carry,
Sometimes of our own making.
You free us from oppression,
Allowing us to experience joy.
We don’t rejoice because of decorations--
The family stuff is sometimes hard.
We can’t find much to celebrate,
In the busyness of our Christmas preparation.
But sweet hymns of praise resound,
Pouring out of our mouths.
You are our Joy, our Hope,
Our Freedom, our Life, our All.
We can’t help but proclaiming
Your love that meets us here.
No matter the road or messiness,
You bring love to every path.
Sometimes joy doesn’t look like laughter,
But just a small smile of recognition.
We see you in the hard, the ache,
And smile to have a friend.
Sometimes Christmas doesn’t look like commercials,
Or movies or what we imagined.
But God with us is bigger and better,
Don’t settle for not enough.
Christmas isn’t the trappings or colors,
The hope for less family drama.
It’s the celebration of Jesus
Who meets us as Hope and Peace.
No matter your situation today,
God is with you and never will leave.
You will have Hope, Joy and Peace,
As He brings them with Him every day.
Glory to God in the highest realms of heaven! For there is peace and a good hope given to the sons of men. Luke 2:14