Advent: Hope
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When you hear the word hope, what comes to mind? Do you well up inside with a positive feeling like a beautiful hot air balloon going up into the sunny, warm sky? Or do you experience a sunken feeling in the pit of your stomach and throat and think your situation is hopeless or that certainly God has forgotten about you? No matter which feeling, or any feeling in between, if you are like me, hope is like a meter that ranges from 1-10, 1 being the bleakest and 10 being full of hope, and depending on the situation, our hope number fluctuates.
It is common to have different levels of hope depending on how we view our situation, and this can cause joy or despair and hopelessness. Despair and hopelessness may cause the situation and us to stay bleak or worsen. But, what if there was a way to find and feel hope in every situation? Yes, you did read it correctly —every situation. You may be thinking, Oh Christine, you have no idea about my situation; it is hopeless, or you may say to yourself, “It’s really ok–in these parts of my life, there is great hope, but in this area, there is no hope, but it’s ok. I‘ve resolved to this fact, and really, it’s ok.”
Well, friend, I am not here to offend you, but I am here to respectfully challenge your thoughts about this, to point you to God’s promises, and to tell you that you are to have hope in every circumstance as the Lord said in Romans 15:13: "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" or in Lamentations 3:24-26: "I say to myself, 'The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.' The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord." These scriptures do not tell us to hope only when things seem possible or doable; nope, they just say hope in Him. So, my friend, we must have hope in the Lord no matter the circumstances. You may be thinking, well, easy for you to say, Christine, but you do not know my situation. And you are correct in that I do not know your situation, but what I do know and will share with you is what the Bible says about the impossible. You see, God does not say only have hope if we think the situation will get better or resolved. His ways are not our ways, as he shares in Isaiah 55:9: “For as heaven is higher than earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Let’s take a few minutes to find how God resolved the impossible in scripture:
Daniel in the lion's den found in Daniel 6. Quick recap: Daniel, a faithful and righteous servant of God, was faced with jealousy by the King's officials, and they plotted against him to have him killed. They convinced King Darius to issue a decree that forbade anyone from praying to anyone other than him. Daniel continued to pray to the Lord openly. King Darius had no other option but to obey his decree and throw Daniel in the Lion’s Den. But God miraculously saved him from the mouth of lions, and when King Darius saw he was unharmed and God saved him, he praised the Lord and made everyone follow the God of Daniel! Our God, who is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow!
Or how about Daniel’s buddies-Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, found in Daniel 3. They were thrown in the fiery furnace because they would not bow down and worship the image of the gold that King Nebuchadnezzar set up. God saved them without a burn on them, while the soldiers who threw them in burned up. The King was so astonished he decreed the people of every nation who said anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego would be cut into pieces, and their houses turned into piles of rubble. Wow! That is a lot to take in! But God prevailed out of what appeared to the human eye impossible! He worked the impossible. And friends, he can do that for us, too!
Or how about the wall of Jericho came tumbling down, as found in Joshua 6.
Or Saul, a persecutor of Christians, was transformed into a disciple of Jesus, found in Acts 9, and wrote many New Testament books.
Our God is a God of hope and miracles. But even as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego affirmed their faith in God, they stated that even if God did not deliver them, they would not worship the golden image. Wow! I want faith like that! Don’t you?
Ladies, so many impossibles became possible like this in scripture; I encourage you to find them and read them regularly to fill your mind with hope.
You see, God has Kingdom focus and tells us to do so as well. God wants us to focus our hope on him, not on the world. Hope in his promises, hope in the birth and resurrection of Jesus, hope in his return as in Peter 1:3: "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy, he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." Or Matthew 24:30-31: "At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other."
WOW friends, read them again slowly and take in the promises of hope for today and tomorrow! So powerful!
So, how do we do this? How do we find hope in all circumstances? Sounds way easier than what it is - I know. But ladies, anything in life that we want to change, either a habit that no longer serves us or to create a new habit to serve us better, takes mindset and
intentionality with our thoughts and actions. It may be a challenge, but challenges help us grow. You see, our brain is wired to keep us safe and to work at minimal capacity to save our energy for when we are in danger and have to fight or flee. So, we must be intentional in how we get our brains to move past this challenge to help us grow and to find hope in every circumstance.
I encourage you to find what works for you, but here are a few things I have learned and implemented in my own life:
1-Time with the Lord. If you have not been doing this, that is ok. Research suggests to attach a new habit to an existing habit. So look at a habit you do in the morning like drinking coffee or tea or stretching, or even if it is grabbing your phone and attaching your morning habit to the new habit of reading scripture. So drink your coffee while reading scripture for 5-10 minutes. If you're stretching, maybe turn on a Bible app and listen to someone reading the Bible while stretching. If you grab your phone first thing, download a Bible app and read a verse or two from your phone first. Whatever you do first thing in the morning, attach reading scripture to it.
2-List three things you are grateful for. Include two good things and then one thing that is a challenge or struggle. Thank the Lord for the good and give praise for the challenge happening “for you” and not “to you” and for helping you grow closer to him through this time. Also, ask him to reveal what he wants you to learn or grow from these things. And most important, expect him to answer.
3-Have faith that God has your best interest at heart and focus on Isaiah 55:9: “For as heaven is higher than earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.
Closing in prayer:
Dear Heavenly Father, I pray over the woman reading this today. I give you praise and glory for all the good and all the challenges we face. You know what we need to grow closer to you and we thank you in advance for taking care of us. Oh Lord, please embrace her with all your love and remind her of how much you love her and for her to have hope in You and to focus on Kingdom purpose. We believe and receive all you have for us. In Your Precious Name, Amen.