The Hope of Glory
What are you hoping for this Christmas season? As we step deeper into the holidays what is something that you are hoping will happen?
Is it a phone call?
A gift you have been eyeing for months?
The pay raise you have been working towards?
A call back from a job interview?
Results from a recent test?
Is it healing from past or recent hurt?
Is it a child you have longed will come home again?
A house on the market in your price range?
A date night with the one you love?
Is it an unlikely conversation?
Or perhaps simply peace amidst a storm?
We are all holding hopes in our hands and not only that, but we often have expectations of how they should come about. We have an idea in our heads of how we imagine these things will happen, IF they happen at all. So we have the hope for something to happen, the ideal way in which it will happen and then the dream of what it will be like once our hope has become a reality. But what if the hope we hoped for doesn’t come the way we thought it would…or when we thought it would…?
Many years ago the Jewish people were hoping for a savior, a king to rise up and defeat their oppressors…Rome. They believed their king would be far greater than even Old Testament King David who defeated Goliath. They believed he would arrive in a manner only kings would and their enemies would shake behind their armor. The Jewish people were hoping for the arrival of a king and while scripture had not been super clear on how, when, and where this would happen, the people decided to lean more on their own understanding and formulated their own assumptions.
Fast forward to this moment, we have it easy because we know how Jesus comes into the story. We know all about the star, the manger, Mary and Joseph…we can easily pick up our Bible’s and read about the story from 4 different books in the Bible. The Jewish people didn’t have the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John to reflect on. The Jewish people had only the hope that God would send the Messiah, the King of Kings, to save them. Sadly the people wrapped their hope in so many assumptions and opinions on how the Savior would come and what he would be like, that they missed it. The King did arrive…but not as anyone had expected. The Jewish people wanted a savior to rescue them from an enemy that was but a shallow pool compared to the darkness that actually surrounded them…and while Rome was not afraid of this baby born in a manger…darkness trembled.
The hopes we hold are important and how we hold them matters greatly. Are we holding them tight against our chest or are we holding them with open hands before our Savior? Some hopes we carry should be left on the trail…like a relationship you know is toxic…or that candy bar in the cupboard. Other hopes are worth holding on to, at least until you place them into your Father’s hands. How you hope a conversation will go doesn’t hold a candle to how your God will carry you through it or hold you if it never happens. How youhope for financial stability and provision is important, but don’t make the mistake of thinking this doesn’t matter to God… “But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you…” Matthew 6:30
Don’t white knuckle your hopes when God is ready to carry you in the valley (Joshua 10:7-9), walk beside you through a parted sea (Exodus 14:19), bring down a giant at your feet (1 Samuel 17:50), provide peace during the storm (Mark 4:35) and a spring of water when you feel unseen by the world (Genesis 16:7).
God cares about you and the hopes you hold dearly. But don’t forget to surrender your hopes into His hands. Rarely do things happen as we hoped they would…but I have found that if I surrender my hopes to Him who is so much Higher than I…
He makes a way.
He heals deeper wounds than the surface level ones I saw.
He stops the storm or wraps me in a blanket of peace through it.
He fights for me in everlasting ways.
He shields me from lies.
He provides a sanctuary for my soul.
He strengthens my steps.
And while not every hope has been met in my life, I have learned to trust my Father. I actually believe Him to be the perfect dad…and so I actually believe He cares about me. Not only that, I believe He will help me. But I have to trust that His ways are higher than mine, and so I hand Him my hopes and choose to fix my eyes on Him rather than what I just handed Him.
Many of you know my family and I are in the process of adopting our third child and we learned very quickly at the beginning that this journey was not like what we had envisioned…in fact it wasn’t even like how others had described it. The moment we feel ourselves starting to assume how things should look…we look up and hold open our hands. God’s will, not ours. His ways, not ours. His timing, not ours. We have surrendered our hopes to Him and we are trusting Him with everything. As a result - we are still waiting but we are at peace. Our marriage is thriving and our children are actually enjoying this process.
We have had moments filled with tears when it felt like the way was blocked. Then God in His patience would flood us with peace and provision once we let go of how we thought things should be and placed our hope back in His hands.
Give Him your hopes.
Trust Him,
keeping your eyes fixed on His glorious light.
As we approach December 1 of this year, I would love to challenge each of you to begin an Advent journey of surrender. What hopes do you need to lay at His feet? As we step into each day leading to Christmas perhaps try writing down something you are surrendering to your Father. How beautiful are Paul’s words in Colossians 1:27 when he describes Jesus as “the hope of glory.” Lay your hopes before your Lord. Trust Him to know what to do with them.
Rest in knowing that Jesus, the hope of glory has come and then rejoice in knowing He will come again! There are no chapters or books in the Bible to prepare us for His exact return…let us learn from history and not miss what He is doing right now within us.
