Without Christ, there is no hope.

Charles Spurgeon

Hope can feel pointless in a year like this one— a year full of loss, grief, and uncertainty. Every time we are able to find a glimmer of hope, more bad news enters the scene. It’s exhausting. 

We hope our kids can go back to school after a “brief shutdown” in the spring, but then we are told they must finish their school year at home. 

We hope that COVID-19 will go away, but the cases keep rising. 

We hope to see family during the holidays, but then we find out we have to quarantine. 

We hope to a have a normal week with no chaos for once, but another hurricane is coming into the gulf. 

We hope to be able to pay our bills this month, but then we get an unexpected medical bill.  

This year has been so hard. And hope feels so far out of reach at this point. 

But here’s the thing about our hope: it isn’t temporary and fleeting and based on circumstances. 

It is anchored in the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

He is the only reason we have hope. 

The Advent season — the four weeks leading up to the next season on the Christian liturgical calendar, Christmastide — helps us to anticipate and celebrate the birth of Jesus by centering our focus on hope, peace, joy, and love. I’ve always loved how the season begins with hope— the anchor for our soul (Hebrews 6:19). It set us up for the rest of the season as we anticipate the coming King. As people in between two Advents, the time in history when Jesus came and the time in the future when he will come again, this anticipation brings us hope.

Hope is defined as “a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen; a feeling of trust.” Though we may not always get exactly what we hope for (like we have seen this year), the hope we have in Christ is never changing, always present, and available to us at all times. 

We can hope in God.

(Psalm 43:5, Psalm 71:5, Psalm 39:7, 1 Timothy 6:17, 1 Thessalonians 1:3, 1 Peter 1:13) 

When things feel hopeless and nothing good seems to be on the horizon, we can hope in God. He is the one who promises to never leave us or forsake us, the one who is gracious, slow to anger and abounding in love. He is just, kind, faithful, strong. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is holy and perfect. When everything around us seems unsteady, He is the steady one. Nothing can take away His love for us. He is eternal. We can trust Him. We can hope in Him. 

We can hope in His Word.

(Psalm 119:114, Psalm 130:5, Psalm 119:81, Romans 15:4)

His word is true, and if we need anything right now in this life, it’s truth. We know we can trust it, so when we feel like hope is gone, we can open the word and remember the greatest story of love and redemption ever told. We can remember God. If you are struggling this Christmas season, pick up an Advent Bible study or simply read the Christmas story at the beginning of Luke.   Let His word fill your soul. 

We can hope in His Love.

(Psalm 33:18, Romans 8:38-39, John 3:16-17, Ephesians 3:14-19)

God loved us so much that He sent His Son Jesus to us — to live with us, die for us, and defeat death for us. He gave us His Son so that our relationship with Him could be redeemed, all because His love is so deep, so wide. We cannot ever fully comprehend it. It is undeserved, yet freely given. His love never dies, never runs out. It is forever. 

We can hope for the future because of His Salvation.

(1 Corinthians 15:19, Colossians 1:27, Ephesians 1:18, Job 11:18, Zephaniah 3:17, 1 Thessalonians 5:8, 1 Peter 1:3, Titus 1:1-2) 

Though our earthly future seems uncertain— we have no idea when Covid will go away or money won’t be so tight or if the grief will get better—, our future with Jesus is sure. When we believe in Jesus as our Savior and entrust our lives to Him, we are promised an abundant life with Him on earth and a forever life with Him after death. It is the greatest hope of all, the hope that we can be with Him forever. That in that place there is no more death or tears or pain. No more pandemics and bankruptcy and corrupt government. There is only hope forevermore. 

Our prayer for you during this Advent season is that you would find the hope you are looking for in God, in His Word, in His love, and in His salvation. May this hope ground you in truth and certainty when everything else is falling apart. 

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.

Hebrews 6:19