Tidings of Comfort and Joy

Tidings of Comfort and Joy

by Tina Yeager

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it”

(John 1:5, NIV).

 

From isolated hearts to families and entire communities, darkness attacks our world. Our livelihoods and dreams of purpose reel from the blows of this brutal season. A shadowy chorus encircles the world, declaring this as the worst time mankind has ever suffered.

This siren-like song tempts us to despair over a hyperbole centered on fear instead of fact. The lyrics float in through our private screens and distract us from writing our destined messages of hope. Many of us adopt the myth and join the dirge. We even sing the enemy’s lines while gathering with others called to write.

The dark tune proves catchy. I found myself slipping into those perilous fret-lines all too often. Yet if my heartbeat loses rhythm with hope, I cannot share the ministry of words with a deaf and dying world.

Imagine how the earth would brighten if the messengers of God resisted the darkness with truth.

Far worse times have battered this world. History points us to war-bent corruption, holocausts, and plagues. Scripture attests to victimizing cultures, genocide, and martyrdom. The era preceding the flood and the period described in the book of Judges reflect malevolence we can only begin to imagine.

Christmas arrived during one such bleak and horrifying time. A paranoid tyrant and a pagan empire oppressed the land. God’s people enjoyed no personal rights but instead suffered dire poverty and slaughter. Into this bleak night of the human soul, the Lord birthed the greatest hope.

The light shone into mankind’s darkest moment with eternal triumph. He called shepherds to bear witness to the dawn of the gospel. As he calls us, the shepherds of his messages. We can testify to the glory of Christ’s hope and let the world know “the darkness has not overcome it.”

 

Father, thank you for the honor of your call to shepherd the message of hope. Keep me focused on the light of truth. Guard my heart against the distractions and deceptions of darkness. Equip me to bear your glorious hope to a world in need. Amen.

 

Award-winning author, speaker, licensed counselor, and life coach, Tina encourages audiences to fulfill their potential. She offers writing workshops through Serious Writer Academy, hosts the Flourish-Meant podcast, and is head mentor with Word Weavers International. Beautiful Warrior, her book on women’s esteem is available through New Hope Publishers. To connect with her, visit tinayeager.com.