Advent 2020 Edition | Week 1: HOPE

This year, 2020, more than any other, I feel a heightened sensitivity to solidify - firm up if you will my foundation of HOPE. In the year of our Lord Two Thousand and Twenty, the world has witnessed and experienced much turmoil, upheaval, broken hearts from the record-breaking death counts of friends and family members due to the COVID-19 pandemic, families displaced,  schooling disrupted, loss of jobs and financial security has rocked the world as we know it in global proportions. The concept of  " normal", has been redefined several times over from late February to the present. Many are helpless and hopeless; as the already broken state of our everyday lives and national realities became even more fractured by the vivid visual exposures of America's deep-rooted systemic ills cemented in its foundations. National police corruption, systematic racism, political failures, a country divided within itself, a brutal election cycle - the very ideals of freedom and equity; dignity and opportunity for all people in spite of race, religion, or creed shock and cracked at its core.

 

So yes, skepticism, cynicism, and hopelessness are where many rests in their awake moments and even in their sleeping state.  Worried, agitated, panicked, overwhelmed that things with not get better or at least not anytime soon. But, this is where we must shut off the news,  read less of the online reports, turn off social media, zoom out far and wide enough to see the bigger picture and find HOPE in the midst of, and beyond our present trials, discomforts and inconveniences, and disappointments. 

We are all in space,  together, where we must ask ourselves these two important questions:  What is Hope and What is the source of my Hope? If we cannot answer these questions we are doomed to fall prey to the mass sense of hopelessness that is becoming pervasive among people close and dear to us. 

WHAT IS HOPE?

Well, the answer depends on the lens we look through and the foundation on which we are resolved to stand. There is a worldview definition and a biblical definition. Both may even seem similar at 1st glance, but a deeper dive with quickly differentiate the two. First things first, we all hope! Believers and non-believers all hope in something or someone. The worldview definition of Hope is cast on a desire or that something- events or outcomes will happen. This definition comes with a degree or measure of uncertainty; it could happen or it may not (50/50) probability.  This worldview definition is rooted in chance and dependent on a man/human ability or intervention. 

The biblical definition of Hope is first and foremost rooted in God and his character. It is defined as a confident expectation or desire that something good will happen in the future. This definition trustfully rests in surrender to a Sovereign God who is omnipotent and omniscient and who has every possible outcome calculated,  therefore his manifested will for us is what's best. God's character of faithfulness to do for his children good and not evil is at the core of our HOPE. His inability to waver, change, or disappoint is the building block of our confidence to HOPE. Yes, even when what we are presently experiencing, feeling, or encountering begs or challenges our belief. It's God's character, his reputation to come through for his beloved who he has redeemed and justified that gives us blessed confidence and assurance that he will make things better. 

WHAT IS THE SOURCE OF OUR HOPE?

It is therefore sufficient to say, God is our source of HOPE. Through Jesus Christ, his beloved son we have been reassured of many promises, but one powerful promise is his love for us and his commitment to never leave or forsake us. When we read the scripture and count the many " I wills " of God, it boosts our HOPE in exponential proportions. Feeling downtrodden, overwhelmed by life, mistreated, or feeling captive to circumstances outside of your control, hear hope in  God's promise, " I will redeem you and save you with my mighty right hand". (Isaiah 43:1) Feeling like life situations, the effects of the pandemic is going to swallow you up or consume you, hear him say, " I will be with you" (Isaiah 43:2).  Feeling vulnerable, weak, and fragile, especially amid the pandemic? Truth be told there is a real temptation to hide in hopelessness, sink into despair, or just run away from the stress by way of denial or neglect of responsibilities.  But as believers, we have good reason to HOPE. God's word oozing with promises and what he declares - the  " I will " of God. 

"Jerusalem shall be inhabited as villages without walls, because of the multitude of people and livestock in it. And I will be to her a wall of fire all around, declares the Lord, and I will be the glory in her midst." (Zechariah 2:4-5)

Here's the HOPE:

God will redeem 

He will restore and bring prosperity- there'll be a replenishing of people and resources

He will protect - " I'll be a wall of fire all around you"

He will be the glory in her midst.

When our HOPE is in God and he is our source, life does get better. Inside the trials and fires of these unprecedented times, God is our firewall of safety with glorious radiance,  which provides peace of mind, joy (pleasure forevermore), and love that bring us into the full presence of God. Find Hope in the "I wills" of God.