Hope

 

What do I put my hope in? How easy is it for me to look to something else for hope? What do I hope for this Advent season?

My answer is that I put my hope in God. It is pretty easy for me to look for hope elsewhere on the daily. This Advent season, I hope that I won’t be as easily distracted by the shiny, the worldly, the temporary. 

Hope in God is solid, certain, weighty. It is not from my imagination but from God Himself providing me with the grace to hope. I hope in the lovingkindness of God. 

This morning I hold the hope of God in Jesus. It is not fragile or whimsical. I return to moments of Thanksgiving that I hold dearly. My adult children left yesterday and we put up Christmas decorations. Ornaments with their young faces grin back at me from the tree. Like Mary, I ponder these things in my heart and treasure them. 

I pray that as I sort the temporary and fleeting, God would send His breath and let them float away like so much smoke. The solid will remain. Hope even though not seen is certain. 

Note: The Bible Project has an Advent series. Check it out. These questions came from them.