December 1, 2013: Advent Week One: Hope – Michael Hidalgo

Hope may be an elusive thing, and can often give way to the opposite of it, which is despair. This is why we need to be reminded: “God has said, ‘Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.’ So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper and I will not be afraid.’” This is the place hope grows from; God as source.

 

But sometimes, even those words don’t work. We can say them, but we still find it difficult to, at times to believe them. But hope doesn’t just come from these words – it can also come through people, because sometimes, the best we can do is to borrow hope from someone else. This is the foundational story of Christmas. Those who were there were longing for redemption, restoration and salvation. But the future was bleak. So what did God do? He came as a person. As one who could lend hope to others.