Hope

One marvelous way that we can celebrate Advent is to sit and reflect on all God has done and continues to do for us.  I’m not necessarily talking about the tangible, but for loving us so.  A love that is unconditional, redemptive, and forgiving –  all of which is demonstrated by God’s leaving the precinct of glory and entering into time in the womb of a virgin: 
 
“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God with us’)” Matthew 1:23.  Forty-two generations of waiting and hoping, and now what had been prophesied by the Old Testament prophets has been fulfilled. 


As we continue to celebrate this Advent season, may we never forget there is more to come. Are we waiting and looking for the next?  Do we look aimlessly, without purpose or goal, or do we look to God with hope?  The “Merriam-Webster Dictionary” defines hope as “to cherish a desire with anticipation: to want something to happen or be true” or “to expect with confidence:  trust.” 
 
This is a good definition for hope.  However, the “Holman Concise Bible Dictionary” defines hope as “trustful expectation, particularly with reference to the fulfillment of God’s promises” or “anticipation of a favorable outcome under God’s guidance.”  The difference is that the biblical definition of hope always includes God.

As we celebrate this Advent season, let us remember that where there is God, there is hope.

Rev. Tina Patterson
Mosaic UMC
Heartland District