Read Psalm 33:20-22
When I was in college, one of my professors described hope as a discipline that requires intentionality and must be cultivated. Until that point, I had regarded hope as a feeling that is defined by circumstances and is not present if it is not felt. Hope was passive, and existed only as a reward for sufficient faith. With this perspective, seasons of waiting seemed to only exist in opposition to hope. Waiting meant hope was absent and unreachable.
As I reflected on my professor’s words and brought my own seasons of waiting before the Lord, I realized that hope is not a reality because we have enough faith, but is a joyful recognition that we have something worth waiting for. It is not a reward for reaching a destination, but is about intentionally directing the focus of our journeys to the unwavering light available to us through Jesus. Waiting in hope, as the psalmist says in Psalm 33, is possible only because what is true about God remains true in every season.
We are all faced with the constant pressure of suffering in our own lives, our communities, and the world. In the midst of brokenness, we have a choice to surrender to hopelessness and believe that what we see is the extent of what is true, or to welcome the waiting and proclaim that nothing can change the greatness of our God. To hope in suffering is to acknowledge that God is who He says He is, even before we see His promises reflected in our circumstances.
The Advent season is an annual reminder to look to the Lord in our waiting. Each day grows darker as winter comes, but we anticipate the joy and fellowship of Christmas Day. In a deeper sense, we are invited to marvel at a Heavenly Father who came as near as human breath and a baby’s cry, giving us evidence of the unfailing love that has been with us, will be with us, and is with us now, even as reasons for hopelessness seem to increase daily. God will return to restore all things, but in the meantime He is inviting us to wait in hope, remembering that He is holy and trustworthy, our help and shield.
For Reflection:
- How does the hope Christ brings transform how you perceive and participate in your daily life?
* Place Mary, Joseph and an angel figure across the room from the stable. God sent an angel to tell Mary and Joseph that Jesus would be born to Mary.
by Grace Ritterbusch
