Celebration in the Midst of Brokeness

I don't know about you but there are many days and sometimes week, where I feel my life is a country western song.  You know the type of song where, you lose your truck, your dog, and your girlfriend ot boyfriend in that order.  As much as we kid about our lives emulating these popular songs, there is not a lot of humor as we go through these moments?  So how do we find hope in the midst of the hardness and brokenness of life?  If we examine God's word we can see that there are plenty of times that people in the Bible have gone through something similar.  This week in worship we look at 2 Samuel chapetrs 5 and 6.  During this time, our Jewish brothers and sisters had just gotten done fighting a civil war.  It was a bloody struggle where many of the folks were having a hard time forgiving each other and putting the civil war behind them.  In spite of this, King David dances as he brings the ark of God into the city of Jerusalem.  This moment can give off a Nero fiddling as Rome burns vibe but King's David dance does take in the understanding of the gravity of that moment.  On the contrary King David knows full well, that the years ahead are going to be rough and tumble as the kingdom figures out how to mesh together while being buffeted by enemies on all sides.  So why his joy?  King David is joy filled because the ark of God is being placed back into Jerusalem.  The ark was a symbol of God's word and God's promise.  He was excited that it was coming back to the people of Israel and into their capital city because it symbolically represented God's presence back into their midst.  God's presence represented hope, represented a second chance, represented mercy, and represented love.  This is why it is important that we take some time in the word of God ourselves, because it reminds us of God's presence in our lives.  I think we all need to feel God's hope and love in our busy and chaotic lives.  So this week, take some time and dive into the word of God and look to see where God is talking to you.  One of the best and easiest ways to do this is by reading a devotional.  Look on line or around your house for a devotional book and open it up.  It is one of the easiest ways to begin to hear the word of God echo in your life and begin to shape you into the person God wants you to be.