The Upper Room Devotional 3rd December 2023
The Upper Room Devotional 3rd December 2023, Sunday Message by Johana Htwe (Yangon, Myanmar)
TOPIC: 1st Sunday of Advent
TODAY’S READING
Isaiah 53:1-12
Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. – Isaiah 53:4 (KJV)
In July 2014, my stepson Ryan was killed in an accident. For three days he was a missing person before we found him and learned what had happened to him. Grief overshadowed my joy that Christmas.
One December day I was home alone. It was late afternoon and had gotten dark outside as I sat on the couch. Holiday music played in the background, but I paid it no attention until “O Holy Night” began. The words “and the soul felt its worth” broke through my thoughts and reconnected me with hope.
Isaiah 53:4 says, “Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.” The word used for griefs in that verse means sickness, disease, anxiety, affliction. It refers to suffering. Reading that verse as we began the journey to Advent after Ryan’s death reminded me that Jesus came not just to take away the sins of the world but also to walk with us through our darkest times because he loves us.
Seven years later “O Holy Night” is one of the first carols I listen to as I prepare for Christmas because it reminds me to turn my pain and my empty seat at the table over to Christ. It also serves as a reminder of all Jesus has carried me through.
Each of us has faced loss, and holidays can magnify the missing faces at the table. I understand. More important, Jesus understands.
TODAY’S PRAYER
Dear Lord, help us to trust you to love us through our grief. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Jesus will love me in and through my grief.
PRAYER FOCUS
Those grieving this Christmas season
READ MORE
More From Amy Catlin Wozniak
The Upper Room is a daily devotional magazine published in more than 30 languages and 100 countries around the world. The daily meditations are written by readers of the magazine and others interested in sharing their faith experiences through writing—both laity and clergy, published authors and new writers. The meditations are stories of real people working to live faithfully with the Bible as their touchstone. Every day, readers of The Upper Room around the world read the same story in many different languages and pray the same prayer together.
READ MORE TOPICS: OPEN HEAVENS, OUR DAILY BREAD, IN TOUCH, SEEDS OF DESTINY, STREAMS OF JOY, JOEL OSTEEN, MOUNTAIN TOP LIFE, DCLM DAILY MANNA, UCB WORD FOR TODAY