Christmas is Hope

 

There’s a hole in our Christmas… Maybe there’s one in yours too.

We are missing several key members of our family. Our hearts ache for them a little more at Christmas time when we are reminded more intensely that they’re missing.

But Christmas is worth celebrating. It’s about so much more than being a big happy family. So we choose to celebrate… and hope… because that is what Christmas is about.

As Ann Voscamp says, “His Glory in the Highest always runs down to meet us who are in our lowest.”

We’ll rejoice in the anticipation that, because of Christmas, we’ll see those deceased loved ones again. Because “Christmas is the beginning of the story where death itself gets killed.” And we’ll hope in the anticipation that the one who is still living, yet absent, will find his way.

Because that is what Christmas is all about…

     …Joy

         … Hope

               …Anticipation

That’s why He came…

     …In the midst of a genocide

          …As a homeless refugee                 

               …Poor and powerless

That’s how the King of the Universe entered our world.

He has turned our HOLE into HOPE! So we grieve and believe. We rejoice in hope and anticipation.

Merry belated Christmas

and a Hope-filled 2015 to you!

Mary's Magnificat

I find it so interesting that Mary has just learned that she will give birth to the Savior of the World, and she doesn't have a laundry list of prayer requests for God. She must have had so many questions, so many fears. Her very life would be in danger for being pregnant out of wedlock.

"Lord, help Joseph to understand!" "God explain this to my parents and help them not to be mad at me!" "Lord, please don't let them stone me!" "Father, I am going to be raising the Savior of the World, please help me!"

But Mary's focus was not on herself. She asked for nothing. She wasn't worrying about what everyone else would think of her. She was willing to be scorned and misunderstood because she knew the truth. She didn't know the future... I'm sure there was much she didn't understand. She only knew that she served a magnificent God and she was willing to do whatever it took for Him to accomplish His plan.

Amazing. Oh, what we can learn from Mary.

Advent

We are in the season of Advent. My daughter and I started an advent devotional on YouVersion this week. We are learning that Advent is about waiting... it's about faith... it's about hope (my favorite subject.)

Elizabeth (my daughter's middle name) and Zachariah had longed for a child for so long, all hope was gone. But even well past the years of child bearing, I'm sure Elizabeth's arms ached for a child or even grandchildren of her own. I imagine her pleading with God in her younger years... maybe even into her 50s where I am now. (Makes me even more grateful for my 5-year-old who fills my arms every morning!) But God remained silent and no baby came. For decades she prayed. Still her arms were empty.

But did she blame God? Was she angry with him? Did she reject faith? While I'm sure she had her dark moments, the answer is no. She continued to trust God. Zachariah continued to serve Him in his priestly capacity. Until one day when all hope was gone, after 400 years of silence, God spoke. FOUR HUNDRED YEARS, folks. 400! This was about so much more than Elizabeth's aching arms. But, at last, she was blessed with her miracle child and the earth was blessed with the first prophet since Malachi.

Four hundred years is nothing to God. Though we may be tempted to lose hope in a much shorter time, we need to remember that God is still moving. Though we can't see Him, and though He may be silent, He has not left us. He has not taken his eyes off of us. He has heard our prayers. He has seen our tears. In fact, He cherishes them. He will show up--right on time.

I'm waiting--no where near 400 years. But if I need to wait that long, may I do it in faith and in hope... unswerving hope.