Day 75: Buddy the Elf

Daniel 11:2-35

1 John 3:7-24

Psalm 122:1-9

Proverbs 29:1

"Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you." 1 John 3:13

...can I be a little hurt? Can I be a little upset? Am I just not supposed to be surprised? I mean, how do I respond to this?

It feels like a lot to ask.

Coming to the Bible today I had a lot on my mind already and then this is what I read and it's hardly encouraging. It's a little too much to wrap my head around. It might even be a little infuriating.

Looking at this verse...the only verse that really stood out to me in this whole chunk of reading (how annoying is that) I thought, how do I write about this? What do I think about this?

I mean I get it conceptually. The world is going to hate us because we are like Buddy the Elf in angry, busy New York City. But it's okay because we have a determined joy and confidence in hope.

But maybe today I don't feel like I have determined joy and confidence in hope. Maybe today I feel like I'm hated. And I'm upset, I'm hurt, and maybe I surprised. Yes, John, maybe I am surprised. Maybe I'm surprised because I didn't want to be hated.

Hanging in my bedroom trying to figure out what the heck to write with all this heaviness swirling around and the need to shower and the clock is ticking before I need to go to bed...I realized "wait, advent. I'm supposed to be looking for Christmas here."

And all of a sudden, I did feel like Buddy the Elf. Verse 14 "we have passed from death to life"!!

"Don't be surprised..if the world hates you..we have passed from death to life!!"

We are altogether different from the world, we shine brighter and livelier. We have FULL joy and CERTAIN hope. We don't cling to magical wishes; we stand on the rock.

In Christ alone my hope is found He is my light, my strength, my song This cornerstone, this solid ground Firm through the fiercest drought and storm What heights of love, what depths of peace When fears are stilled, when strivings cease My comforter, my all in all Here in the love of Christ I stand. In Christ alone, Who took on flesh Fullness of God in helpless babe This gift of love and righteousness Scorned by the ones He came to save Till on that cross as Jesus died The wrath of God was satisfied For every sin on Him was laid Here in the death of Christ I live. There in the ground His body lay Light of the world by darkness slain Then bursting forth in glorious day Up from the grave He rose again And as He stands in victory Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me For I am His and He is mine Bought with the precious blood of Christ. No guilt in life, no fear in death This is the power of Christ in me From life’s first cry to final breath Jesus commands my destiny No power of hell, no scheme of man Can ever pluck me from His hand Till He returns or calls me home Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand.

"In Christ Alone" by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend