Advent Devotion - Day 4

Join us through this special time of Advent as we dive deeper into the Word of God. Each day, we will pray and reflect on a different passage from Scripture. Daily Readings are from the Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings, and reflections are written by our church staff.

Our help is in the name of the Lord.
O God, maker of heaven and earth,
you save us in the water of baptism
and by the suffering of your Son, you set us free.
help us to put our trust in his victory
and to know the salvation won for us
by Jesus Christ our Lord.

Prayers from Church of England

Psalm 124 (NIV)

A song of ascents. Of David.

¹ If the LORD had not been on our side—
  let Israel say—
² if the LORD had not been on our side
  when people attacked us,
³ they would have swallowed us alive
  when their anger flared against us;
⁴ the flood would have engulfed us,
  the torrent would have swept over us,
⁵ the raging waters
  would have swept us away.
⁶ Praise be to the LORD,
  who has not let us be torn by their teeth.
⁷ We have escaped like a bird
  from the fowler’s snare;
  the snare has been broken,
  and we have escaped.
⁸ Our help is in the name of the LORD,
  the Maker of heaven and earth.

This scripture has always spoken to me while going through hard times.

When I was told my husband had cancer and he had a very low chance of living, I was by myself at the hospital because of COVID. My mom and sister text me that they were in the parking lot. I was so confused because they live in Tulsa, and they knew the hospital wouldn’t let them in. They just text me the minute after I got the doctor's report and said, “We know you can’t leave Jim, but we wanted to be close to you.” They sat in the parking lot and prayed for me. I remember feeling hope and the Holy Spirit so strong in me. It gave me the strength to tell Jim the hard news.

Later, when we got the news that he didn’t have cancer, I asked my mom, “How did you know how badly I needed you?” She told me she listened to God when she was praying, and he told her Rachel needs you. She got in the car and drove to the hospital.

When we put our trust in God, he is there for us. We must remember to trust in him during our hard times.

Do you ever feel trapped by overwhelming odds? We have to be in constant prayer so we can hear God talking to us during hard and good times.