For you meet him with rich blessings;
you set a crown of fine gold upon his head.
He asked life of you; you gave it to him,
length of days forever and ever.
His glory is great through your salvation;
splendor and majesty you bestow on him.
For you make him most blessed forever;
you make him glad with the joy of your presence.
For the king trusts in the Lord,
and through the steadfast love of the Most High he shall not be moved. Psalms 21:3-7
People often forget. From anniversaries to dorm keys, the amount of things that escape our mind are countless. The same applies to our faith. No matter how many times we cry out about God’s goodness and the blessings he pours out on us, we constantly forget all the ways that God’s works in our lives. Though we wish to remember every good and perfect thing, we are quick to forget how God worked in our lives in the past hour.
In times of suffering, God’s grace becomes increasingly hidden from our thoughts. The once joyful songs of praise are overshadowed by doubt. The dry seasons seem to tell us that there is no respite in sight. The fire in our bones flame out as we become swallowed up by worldly pains and struggles.
Yet, the dry seasons seem to always end. The rest we were searching for is given to us and slowly but surely, the fire in our bones start to ignite again. As we look back at our dry seasons and the times before then, we see that God has never left us. We begin to remember how when we asked life of Him, he gave it to us. In this season of Advent, we look back to God’s ultimate blessing of his Son coming to us in human flesh. We celebrate how “the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45). And we wait upon his second coming when we will sing his praises forevermore. This is a blessing that we cannot forget.
But, even as we remember and celebrate this great gift, we cannot forget the other ways God has intimately and lovingly worked in our lives. God’s work in our lives wasn’t done after Christ came and died. God didn’t take a hiatus until he returns again. He is continuing to work in our lives today.
Christ’s coming secured not only our past, but our present. Christ’s second coming gives us hope not only for a time where we are ultimately sanctified, but also for the splendor and majesty that God bestows on us today. Through these acts of grace, we find a deep joy and an unshakeable hope in God’s presence. As we remember the gift of Christ’s coming, let us also remember the blessings God gives to us in the present, and remain grounded in His steadfast love.
Joshua Hong ’23 is a freshman in Wigglesworth Hall.