There’s something about winter that feels like a long season of waiting and anticipation. We wait and look forward to spending time with family and friends. We wait in anticipation for the joyful moments under the Christmas tree with little ones, and look forward to the quiet, cozy moments after the hustle and bustle wanes. Even after Christmas, we wait for the new year, and for the days to get longer and lighter in the eager anticipation of spring.
Sometimes in the midst of all the joyful waiting, we can also find ourselves in a heavier season of waiting on the Lord – waiting for healing, waiting for a relationship to mend, for provision to come, or for peace that passes understanding. During these times, it can be more challenging to hold onto hope when our hearts long to truly experience Emmanuel-God With Us.
The season of Advent gives us a beautiful opportunity to do just that. During Advent, we pause to remember the eager anticipation of Jesus’s birth long ago. We also take time to intentionally live in that same eager anticipation today, as we look forward to His future return. As we slow down and reflect on God’s faithful love and redemptive plan for us, it reorients us and helps us be awake to God’s love and presence. We gain an eternal perspective that allows us to lean into a hope that is greater than our circumstances.
It reminds us that even while we are waiting, God’s perfect plans are still unfolding. That the same God who worked powerfully in the past, is still working powerfully now. It reminds us that the hope we have is not founded on wishful thinking or positive vibes, but on the finished work of Jesus Christ and the air-tight promise that He is coming again with wholeness and healing to set all things right.
I’ll admit that waiting on the Lord is not always easy, especially when we can’t see clearly what lies ahead, and when the outcomes are often out of our control. But Hebrews 10:23 reminds us to “…hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.”
That means in every situation, in every season, God is faithful and holds us each securely in His arms. He is actively working on our behalf, in the waiting and praying, in the wrestling and surrender. He never fails to meet us in our need, walk with us, and bring about beauty and blessing from even the toughest situations. He draws near to us and reminds us that He has good plans for us, and that He is not finished yet.
Because God is faithful to keep His promises, it is safe to trust Him. We can hold unswervingly our hope in Him because He will never fail, never walk away, and never go back on His word. Our hope in God becomes an anchor for our souls. (Heb. 6:19)
The season of Advent also gives us a chance to profess the hope that we have to the world around us. It’s an opportunity for us to live out our purpose as God’s children by reflecting the light and love of Christ to those around us. To let our confident hope in Jesus be a beacon into the darkness, pointing others to Him. If you have confident hope in Christ, I guarantee there is someone in your life that would be so blessed to hear about it.
If you are in need of hope, I pray that God will place someone in your life to encourage you and share the hope you can have in God. Don’t be afraid to reach out and ask for someone to sit with you, to pray with you and remind you of God’s love and faithfulness. Hope is strengthened when we share it with one another..
As we collectively tell the stories of what God has done in the past, it builds up our faith in how God is working now, and helps us all to have hope in the amazing things God will do in the future.
God’s love for us has no limit, no expiration date, no conditions. It is faithful and eternal. So as we hold unswervingly to our hope in Him, we can confidently profess the name of Jesus.
Whether you are anticipating the joys of the season, waiting for a miracle, or both, my prayer for you is this from 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.”
