Hope

“Like you, I was disgusted, but being on the West Coast, it was still reasonably early and I left the game on as “background noise”.  With the 2 quick scores in the 3^rd quarter there was hope, but after Detroit got the 1^st down with 2 minutes left … aaaaagh!  After the score,  if anyone had been asleep in Eugene, I woke them up with my screams!”

This is a note from a High School classmate about a Packer game. Yes, I too gave up hope and went to bed early awakening to the “Good News.”  This reminds me of Easter and the death of Jesus on the cross. Don’t get me wrong there is no connection between the Green Bay Packers and Jesus, other than the concept of Hope and Joy at times. It is Advent season and people are lighting their Advent candles. The second candle represent hope. This is not the Packer win hope or the response that I receive so often in the hospital from people awaiting news on a test, saying “I hope so.” That is not hope, but doubt.

This is the hope we have as an firm foundation. “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure” (Hebrews 6:19). That is the hope of the Gospel and the certainty we have of eternal life in Christ as we trust in Him as Savior and Lord. There is no danger of saying that I hope they don’t run out. We have an overflowing promise that nothing can separate us from this love.

My favorite verse in the New Testament is Romans 15:13 saying, “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.”

Bestselling devotional author, Sarah Young writes in Jesus Today: Experiencing Hope Through His Presence, “Hope shine bright in the trenches of adversity.” Yes, hope is a bright light in Christ. This woman went through great adversity of sickness from Lyme Disease bringing her near death. Interestingly, I too experienced the same near-death illness from tick-borne disease as well. When hope was given up by the doctors of a nenown medical center God healed me miraculously and instantly when I recited Psalm 103 out loud. “Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise His holy name. Praise the Lord, O my soul and forget not His benefits. Who forgives all your sins, and heals all your diseases, who redeems you life from the pit, who fills you with love and compassion…” (Psalm103:1-3). As these words flows from my pain and sweat wracked body, God power and physical presence of heat moved from my toes to my head bringing complete healing. 

O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie!

Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by.

Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting Light;

The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.