Advent 2020: Week 1-Choose Hope
Are you clinging to hope this Advent season? I know I am, and sometimes it feels like it’s slipping away. There are so many things at odds with feeling hope this year:
A global pandemic that has resulted in so much loss – life, normalcy, jobs, economic stability, travel, plans, celebrations, smiles (hidden behind masks)…
In America, where I live, divisions over racism, ideologies, and politics…
Increased isolation leading to rises in anxiety, depression, fear, loneliness, child abuse, domestic abuse, and substance abuse…
Not to mention a thousand other things in each of our personal lives.
All these things make it hard to know how we will ever bounce back. But I know we will because I have hope.
What is there to be hopeful about? On the surface it may seem the answer is nothing. That’s why we have to dig and dig deep. Dig deep into ourselves to find the courage to hope. Dig deep into the idea that we have a choice about how we respond to the things that threaten to steal our hope.
Choose to Hope because God is still on His throne.
We all like to believe that we are in control, some of us to a greater degree than others. In reality, God is in control. Ultimately, He determines when we live and when we die; He also controls what happens between the beginning and the ending. I’m not suggesting that we are puppets being manipulated by an all-powerful God. On the contrary, I believe that we have free will to make choices in all aspects of our lives, but I also believe that God wants what is best for us and will orchestrate things in our lives to bring the best to us. It’s up to us to recognize it and accept it. All He asks in return is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” and to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37, 38 NIV).
Choose to Hope because Jesus is your Savior.
Now, I know that second command to “love your neighbor as yourself” is hard for some of us. There are many reasons why we don’t love ourselves, too many for me to even begin to list, but when you accept Jesus as your Savior, you also accept that you have been forgiven for any sin you may have committed or ever will commit. Knowing that, you can begin to forgive yourself. It may not happen all at once, but, little by little, you will come to know that you have been redeemed. The more you live into that, the easier it is to love yourself (and your neighbor).
Jesus is the reason for the season of Advent, of Christmas. He came into this world as a baby. He grew up, began His ministry, and gave himself to be crucified as a ransom for all sinners and all sin. God resurrected Jesus and then He ascended into heaven. Before He left this earth, He promised to come again. We celebrate Advent in recognition of Jesus’s birth and in anticipation of His second coming.
Choose to Hope because the Holy Spirit is always present in every circumstance.
When there are so many things beyond our control, we may begin to feel alone and that no one is on our side. That’s just not true. Every one of us has an Advocate, “hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us” (Romans 5:5 NIV). The Holy Spirit intercedes on our behalf when we pray, and I believe the Holy Spirit speaks to us – not necessarily audibly – but as a sense or a sensation or a feeling that we should do something a certain way.
Oftentimes, when we don’t know what to do, we can be still and quiet and the answer will come to us. I believe that’s the Holy Spirit nudging us in the direction we should go. When we follow those promptings, we are acting on faith in the God who never leaves us or forsakes us.
Sometimes, though, nothing happens. There’s just silence; there’s no indication of a clear way to proceed. In those moments, we have to rely on what we know about God and the situation. If we can wait, we should; if we cannot, then, we should advance with caution, knowing that even if we make a mistake, we are still loved, chosen, and cherished by Father God; saved by Jesus Christ; and accompanied by the Holy Spirit.
I’d like to challenge you this Advent season to stand strong in your faith and choose HOPE. Father God has written your name on the palms of His hands (Isaiah 49:16 NLT). He hasn’t forgotten you, and He knows what you need. He will provide, you just may need to look for that provision in unexpected ways.
As we approach Christmas, this is my prayer for you, “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 NIV).
