When the Path is Deceptive...

You've all seen these road signs. The yellow ones with the curving arrow, accompanied by a speed limit to warn drivers to slow down before taking the exit ramp from the interstate. Perhaps you have had the experience, as I have, of thinking, "Enh. It doesn't look that bad. I can take this faster than 25 mph." And then, as you attempt the curve at 40 mph, you find yourself struggling for control. (Okay, maybe that's just my driving...)

That's kind of how life has been lately. I knew some things were coming, and it wasn't until I found myself careening into said circumstances that I realized just how difficult it was going to be. I'm still struggling to regain balance. As I read somewhere recently, I'm better than I was, but not quite so good as I was before I got worse.

It's been interesting to be in such a place during the season of Advent. Okay, really, it's been annoying at times... All this talk of waiting in anticipation, and redemption being at hand, and you suffer now, but the promise is coming. I really just want to say, "Enough already! Let's get on with the redemption!" But when the impatience subsides, it is good to be reminded that this is only temporary. We are promised Christ, the Messiah, and He has overcome the world! And this is what Advent is about... waiting, preparing, anticipating...

O Key of David and Scepter of the House of Israel; you open and no man closes; you close and no man opens. Come, and deliver from the chains of prison those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.