Advent Week 1: Hope

Advent Week 1: Hope

Hope is not easy to write about, but as we begin this season of Advent, it has been helpful to me to reflect why hope is difficult. I hope that my reflections encourage you in some small way. 

I have always been a do-it-myself kind of person. If someone needs to step up and take action, I will feel compelled to do it. If a better grade can be achieved, I’ll figure out what I could have done to get it. If a system or program could be more efficient, I’ll find a better way. The last two years have been very frustrating for me. It seems as though grief, loss, pain and so many other things, are rampant. The other day I saw an instagram post that encouraged readers to do “whatever felt right, because nothing matters anymore.” Yikes. It resonates, though. I wish that a word, deed or action could do away with the problems racking the world. And yet, I find myself wondering if these problems - pain, heartache, grief and loss - had been lurking beneath the surface, until the entrance of a worldwide pandemic blew the cover off.

Over the last year, I have said more times than I can count, “I long for the resolution of all things.” Longing will be a subject for another day. Today, I see problems and I long for answers. As I hold these things before the Lord, I often wonder why He does not set them right. I still don’t have an answer for that. But what I do know is that He is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit (Psalm 34:18). As I hold the grief and pain before the Lord, I see a void that only He can fill. Rather than demand that He work my way, I am learning to say, “come Lord Jesus,” and wait for Him to fill the yawning chasm with His light. I realize that this can sound cliche to some. I don’t intend to sound insensitive. I only know that God does not function on my timetable - and I know He is trustworthy.

The third verse of Charles Wesley's familiar Christmas hymn, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, contains the phrase, “light and life to all he brings, risen with healing in his wings.” My heart jumps a little every time I sing this line. Isn’t that what we wish He would do today?  What I love about this verse is the fact that He is capable of healing, resolution, fixing what is broken. Malachi 4:2a says “‘But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays.” For those who trust in Him, there is hope for healing and comfort. For restoration. Isaiah 61:1 contains the grand announcement, “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.” After so many pronouncements of judgement, correction and condemnation, God is inviting His people into abundance, and a restored relationship with Him. In place of death, there is life. I can imagine the longing in the heart of Isaiah as he penned these inspired words. 

While the world around us and our hearts inside of us are aching, I invite you to join me in holding the ache in our hearts before God. Let us ask Him to come and fill the void, turning our eyes to Him. And may we ask Him to come and to fill the place that we long to have made whole, fixing our eyes on Him, so we will see Him for Who He is. Hope, my friends, is not merely sunny optimism. It is courageous, resilient trust that says with Job, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end He will stand on the earth” (Job 19:25-26). Hope prepares space in our hearts, opening the door for change that can only originate with our Creator. May your week be filled with the hope that comes from know, trust, and and learning more of Him.