The Lord uses what he will

I was really glad for Jon Bloom's post on the DG blog, Hopeful Post-Christmas Melancholy . He said, "as long as the beautiful gifts remain unopened around the tree and the events are still ahead of us, they can appear to be the hope we are waiting for. But when the tree is empty and events are past, we realize we are longing for a lasting hope"

This described how I felt on Christmas Day. I had nothing to do. We had celebrated our Christmas the night before, so now there were no presents to open, no stockings to unstuff and no friends to be around. I was bored out of my mind and was longing for more celebration, but it was over and all the anticipation that I had for Christmas was gone and I felt horrible. I was once again left unfulfilled. As I was sitting on the couch not doing anything, I realized that Jesus is my ONLY hope. Nothing else can satisfy me the way that he is able to. He is the one that I pray would be the "strength of my heart and my portion forever". I know that holidays, family, friends and presents are not going to give me the lasting satisfaction that Christ promises. Therefore I can thank the Lord for them and pray that I will focus on and love the Giver of all these things more than the gift itself.

Friends, may we press onward and remember the lasting hope that the Lord promises is greater than all the gifts in the world!