The thrill of hope! In our family we light the 4th candle of Advent as hope! The anticipation of Christmas is at its peak as we look to Christmas that is now but days away. When my children were young the thrill of all that was about to happen was especially exciting with present opening, Church Christmas pageants, lighting candles in church, making Christmas cookies and other special things we do just at this time of year. They were so excited as little ones and truth be told they still get excited today. We are filled with a joyful expectation at Christmas!
A thrill of hope; the weary world rejoices, for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.” ~~ O Holy Night
This feeling of expectation and excitement about what is to come is hope. When we come to a place we are willing to settle for the current state of things, when we are devastated by life, when we feel that to endure any more is not worth it we have reached the place of hopelessness. Things will go wrong in life. We will have moments everything comes crashing down around us and we will feel the pain, hurt, and disappointment of a hopeless world. To avoid this dark downward spiral in life we must cling to something bigger than ourselves. It is in just such a weary world we hear the voices of those that know and love Jesus ringing out!
Jesus came to earth to bring us hope for an eternal future! Hoping in Jesus is knowing with a confident expectation that what Jesus says, will come to be. Even in our most difficult moments Jesus offers us peace and we can trust in Him to see us through. If we are courageous enough to follow Jesus we can cling to the promises he offers. Each Christmas we have the opportunity to renew our hope in Jesus. We can be reminded that truly it is a thrill to have hope in a Savior that loves us so much he came to live among us and die for our sins and bring us into eternity with him.
Hope is faith in the future! Believing and knowing God will be there always is hoping confidently in Jesus. Instead of being caught up in our current circumstances of life, we should instead look to the promises of God rooted in Christ.
Sometimes we place our hope in wishful thinking. We can wish to win the lottery or hope that a job promotion will become a reality. We can desire a relationship to be more than it is or think positive thoughts for an outcome we want. Many things we hope for have an uncertainty about them because it is not biblical hope we are dealing with.
God’s hope is like an anchor. It is as sure as a sunrise. One can be confident that hope placed in God is not done in vain. Without believing in Jesus and the promises he brings we will not be able to look toward the future with expectation and joy. Biblical hope is based on the irrevocable word of God.
It’s interesting because what we choose to believe reflects in our life and our choices. If we do not have a a properly placed hope then our lives reflect that. We are not promised a life without pain and hardship, but Jesus does guarantee the certainty of his presence. The presence of Jesus brings peace and joy in the midst of hardship.
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:13
The power of the Holy Spirit is a mysterious thing that we can not fully know and understand. I have seen this Holy Spirit power at work in my life though and it brings me a certain assurance that indeed God has my future. As my daughter prepare for college we are flooded with many emotions. She has been blessed to have been accepted multiple places so she has options on where she can attend college in the fall. Sometimes having lots of good choices makes it even harder though. Many a conversation about the merits of the colleges and her future aspirations, what college life would be like there, the physical distance are all part of the conversation as she begins to wrap her head around where it is she should commit to go to college. I feel certain that God has her future. I know he will lead her to just the right place for the next phase of her life. I also know that it probably won’t look like any of us quite imagine. I am hopeful God will guide her and give her a confident decision when the time is right because of His love for her. Because of my faith in Jesus, I have an anticipation and peacefulness about my daughter’s future!
Christmas time reminds us that Jesus came into this world to bring hope to our lives and to give us a future we can look forward to. No longer do we have to go through the motions of life. Our Messiah King has come and is coming again! This is exciting news in our life and each advent season we are reminded how important it is to cling to this hope. Jesus is returning and in Advent we are reminded of that very fact as well as to renew our hope and anticipation in a Messiah that loves us and has an eternal plan for us!