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The rock of a Living Hope.

God did not spare the difficult way the Christmas Story began. God trusted us with truth, with the rock of Hope!

God is offering the gift of hope this Advent as I’m waiting with several friends. Some desiring jobs in their fields of training; others would love to have a mate; several are fighting for their lives as they live with cancer.

The hope God gave with the birth of Jesus has many applications.

Hope would not be hope if if wasn’t for the waiting. The question becomes, in the in-between, in the often very long wait, how do we keep hope alive?

In Matthew 1:18-25, Joseph had his ability to hope tested. “When his (Jesus’s) mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit”. (Matthew 1:18) Pregnant and not yet married. Adultery in that society. Deserving death.

Joseph’s wait was a few months. His circumstances did not change. He re-postured his heart; he trusted; he hoped.

The rock of Hope does not rest on human understanding;
it rests solely on the character of God!

Four realities are re-posturing my heart toward the hope God offers.

1. God’s hope is a LIVING Hope

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!
According to his great mercy,
he has caused us to be born again to a living hope …”
I Peter 1:3

resting with a living God,

“… because we have our hope set on a living God,”
I Timothy 4:10

communicated through his living Word.

“For the word of God is living and active …”
Hebrews 4:12

John Newton communicates this in his well-known hymn, Amazing Grace. The third stanza reads,

“The Lord has promised good to me,
His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be
As long as life endures”.

2. Our living hope is not based on circumstances.

“Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer”.
Romans 12:12

The rock of hope is well-defined in the familiar Christmas hymn, O Holy Night

“O Holy Night!
The stars are brightly shining
It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth!
Long lay the world in sin and error pining
Till he appear’d and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary soul rejoices
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn!”

The rock of hope is understood on a soul level.

3. Our living hope requires patience. The timing is in God’s court.

“… Now hope that is seen is not hope.
For who hopes for what he sees?
But if we hope for what we do not see,
we wait for it with patience.”
Romans 8:24, 25

This truth set in the context of Paul’s teaching about our eternal hope we know as believers, also applies to lesser, more immediate hopes. Will I trust, keep my hope on, the truth of Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

4. The outcome of our living hope is joy. It never leads to shame.

“Therefore …
we rejoice in hope of the glory of God …
we rejoice in our sufferings,
knowing that suffering produces endurance,
endurance produces character,
and character produces hope,
and hope does not put us to shame,
because
God’s love has been poured into our hearts …”
Romans 5:1-5

I am motivated to keep reviewing, pondering, and trusting God’s love. What does that look like today?

“The righteous flourish like the palm tree …
to declare that the LORD is upright;
he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.”
Psalm 92:12 & 15

The Christmas story is not the birth of hope. In the Christmas story God helps me to understand the outworking of the rock of a living hope.

Merry Christmas!!   May God’s gift to you be a hope-filled celebration!

Next week Echoes of Grace is on a Christmas break while I enjoy playing with our 6 GRANDS!

Echoes will return January 5, 2023. Do you have a word for the new year?

 

Copyright: Sue Tell, December 2022