Advent – Hope
A reflection on Hope – an extension to our Living the Story: Advent & Christmas journal.
Israel awaited their Messiah with hope, but they didn’t fully understand what Christ’s coming brought to them. In His first coming, He fulfilled scriptures and gave us direct access to God. Because of Christ, we have a different hope, a hope for Eternity with Him.
The English Oxford Dictionary defines hope thus: The expectation of something desired; desire combined with expectation.
As a young Christian with autism, I found when my sisters and brothers in Christ used the word hope, it was different, it was weird. It was not with an expectation of a Promise given, but with utter belief in God's love and mercy. Enter into 10 years of searching for an explanation by numerous ministers, no end of Christian friends, and almost as many scriptures. Eventually, my friend Ann gave me the scripture that summed up my faith, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” Hebrews 11:1.
But, is hope in God's promise something we just think about maybe happening, or is it something we trust to be true? Actually, in faith, it is something we trust to be true because He said it in scripture: Psalm 25:21, Psalm 31:24, Lamentations 3:22-25, Hebrews 11:1, and so, so many more Old and New Testament scriptures. Your mission, should you accept it, is to research HOPE in the scriptures. To, as Pastor John says, “deep dive into God’s Word”, God’s true and trusted promise.
So, fast forward to now, many years later, I hope because my faith is my trust in God, in The Great I AM, the creator and perfector of my faith. Not in the world’s promises or man-made desires, but in the LORD’s. Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament ‘Hope’ for the Jews. He is the long-awaited Messiah. I began the ‘Living The Story’ studies on Friday with the suggested reading of Isaiah 9: 2–7, and what I found was that Isaiah summed up MY Hope; the faith and hope that I have in the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus. The long-promised Son of God, whose coming we celebrate at Christmas time, and who will be coming back at the trumpet call at the close of this age.
Isaiah 9:6 (NIV):
6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
This is Jesus, the One my hope is on, the One that my faith is in and the One that holds my heart, my life and my all.
Thank you for reading and may God bless you through His word.
Written by:
Shelly, a London Lady from Eastbourne, UK.
