Sometimes, our best laid plans don’t work out how we thought. Sometimes, we have to wait longer than we want to. Sometimes, love and submission are messier than we think they should be. The good news, is that God is within and working through all of these circumstances in our lives. How is God using your “sometimes” this week and what can you learn through it?

We all have experienced the feeling of “overwhelmed”. When we feel this way, we want to somehow fix our circumstances. But, as we all know, our feeble attempts to avoid being overwhelmed often make matters far worse. Perhaps, we need to allow ourselves to be overwhelmed by God, rather than our circumstances.

This week’s Take Five links are all about love. Love for God, for others and even for those we don’t know. Even in difficult times, we can see God’s hand through our circumstances and in his word, and that knowledge allows us to share his grace with others. What are some ways that you can show love, both to Jesus and to the people in your life this week?

God is also an authority, as well as a Father. How can I see him in love, while living with PTSD? It’s been hard for me to accept God as an authority. The way we see our earthly fathers is often the way we see God. Was God like my father, waiting to let me have it? Over time, God showed me he was nothing like my abusive Dad.

“I with a voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord!” Jonah 2:9, ESV Jonah is not worshiping God because of where he was right then, but because of where he had come from. He vowed loyalty to God, not because of what he wanted God to do, but because of what God has already done. Jonah did not thank God because he was in the belly of a fish, but because he was saved from drowning.

Waiting can be very difficult, but in the season of Advent, we are reminded to embrace joy and hope as we wait; that Messiah has come and we are redeemed. Let’s show the world a Christmas season of beautiful anticipation, and cling to God’s promises as we celebrate his coming; this time of precious, hopeful, joyous Advent, even as we wait.