Latest / Eurasia Region Podcast / S1-E31 | Everyday Eurasia | Debora Myrtle Anish

Transcript

S1-E31 | Everyday Eurasia | Debora Myrtle Anish · Eurasia Region Podcast

• 0:06
  Welcome to the special advance series of the Everyday Eurasia
• 0:09
  podcast, Inspiring Fate, or every day.
• 0:13
  In the coming weeks, they'll be journeying together toward
• 0:16
  Christmas, A season of anticipation, reflection, and
• 0:20
  light in the darker days. During this special season of
• 0:24
  Advent, we will journey through the Advent themes of hope,
• 0:28
  peace, joy, and love. This third week, we will join
• 0:31
  Deborah Myrtle Anish. She is a Sunday school teacher
• 0:35
  and NDI president at the Call Free Choice of the Nazarene in
• 0:38
  Chennai, India. In her daily life, she is an
• 0:41
  assistant professor and clinic opsiologist in a government
• 0:44
  hospital and is also pursuing geological studies.
• 0:49
  She will share with us about the team Advent Joy.
• 0:52
  Joy in His promise. Today's reading is taken from
• 0:58
  Isaiah Chapter 9, verses 236 and seven.
• 1:04
  The people walking in darkness have seen a great light on those
• 1:08
  living in the land of deep darkness.
• 1:10
  A light has dawned. You have enlarged the nation and
• 1:14
  increased their joy. For to us a child is born, to us
• 1:20
  a son is given, and he will be called wonderful counsellor,
• 1:24
  mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, of the
• 1:30
  greatness of his government and peace.
• 1:32
  There will be no end. The zeal of the Lord Almighty
• 1:36
  will accomplish this. As I spoke these words to a
• 1:41
  people living in darkness, darkness from political
• 1:45
  oppression, fear, and spiritual drifting, Judah faced enormous
• 1:51
  pressure. Foreign powers threatened their
• 1:54
  borders. Leaders were anxious.
• 1:57
  Many hearts had wandered far from God.
• 2:00
  It wasn't just a season of difficulty.
• 2:03
  It was the season of darkness. And yet, in the midst of that
• 2:07
  darkness, God promised light and joy, the promise of the Messiah.
• 2:15
  What makes this promise even more remarkable is this.
• 2:19
  When Isaiah spoke, the fulfilment was still nearly 7
• 2:23
  centuries away. The dawn he described would not
• 2:27
  fully break until the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem.
• 2:31
  Some likely brushed it off as unrealistic or distant.
• 2:35
  And yet Scripture tells us only a faithful remnant truly
• 2:40
  believed. But God still gave the promise.
• 2:44
  God still spoke light into their darkness.
• 2:47
  God still declared joy before joy could even be felt.
• 2:52
  This is one of the most important truths Advent teaches
• 2:56
  us. God does not ask us to pretend
• 3:00
  everything is fine. He asks us to trust that He is
• 3:04
  coming. Advent joy is not the joy of
• 3:07
  everything being fixed. It is the joy of knowing who is
• 3:12
  on the way. Advent joy is double sided.
• 3:18
  Christ has come and Christ will come again.
• 3:22
  Joy is the light on the horizon that tells us dawn has begun,
• 3:27
  even if the night still lingers. For some of us, Advent begins
• 3:33
  with shadows similar to those Isaiah's people.
• 3:36
  New. Perhaps you have come into the
• 3:39
  season with unanswered prayers, loss of dear ones, fear or
• 3:45
  uncertainty about the future, or spiritual weariness as there 9
• 3:52
  reminds us of something tender and true.
• 3:55
  God gives joy not to those who have everything together, but to
• 3:59
  those waiting in the dark. He gives joy as a promise first,
• 4:04
  long before it becomes an experience.
• 4:08
  And the promise is certain because the one who made it is
• 4:11
  faithful. Isaiah says the zeal of the Lord
• 4:14
  Almighty will accomplish this. God himself takes responsibility
• 4:20
  for bringing joy to his people. We simply face the direction
• 4:25
  where the light is coming from. May we turn our hearts toward
• 4:30
  that light, who's Jesus Christ. Let us pray, our dear Father, we
• 4:38
  pray that the light of the world, your Son Jesus, may shine
• 4:42
  into our darkness as he did in the days of Isaiah.
• 4:47
  Teach us, do not rejoice in what we see, but in what you have
• 4:51
  promised. Increase our joy as we wait for
• 4:55
  you, knowing that your coming is certain, your light is
• 5:00
  unstoppable, and your joy will fill every shadow.
• 5:06
  This will pray in your most precious name.
• 5:09
  Amen. Thank you for listening to the
• 5:12
  Everyday Eurasia podcast, Inspiring Fate for everyday.
• 5:16
  For more Everyday Stories, subscribe on this podcast
• 5:19
  channel, follow our socials, Facebook and Instagram, or our
• 5:23
  newsletter Snapshots. For our newsletter and further
• 5:26
  information about the Eurasia region, visit our website,
• 5:30
  eurasiaregion.org.