Christmas Musings Day 5
Whispers of Hope
Genesis 3:15 (ESV) 15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
This
world does not work right. Of course, you know that. Promises are broken. The
innocent perish. Hatred flourishes. Families break up. Loved ones age and die.
Calamities strike randomly. All of creation groans. Anyone old enough to read
this has dealt with the harsh realities of life in a world stained with sin.
Sadly, we all also know the guilt of our own abject failure. We continue to
contribute to this awful mess. Some days we feel hopeless in the face of
continued tragedy. God knows the feeling and has tended to it.
In
the Genesis account of the fall we hear the whisper of hope, “…he shall bruise
your head,…” At that of darkness and reckoning, God whispers to us, “I’m coming,
and I will make things right, at a cost.” Hope helps us hang on in the dark
times, in the painful times, in the lonely times. Hope enables us to face the
grim reality of our earned mortality. It engenders the courage needed to face
down the fear of our own failure. Yet, hope deferred makes the heart sick.
Often our hope fades with repeated encounters with darkness. That is why Advent
is so important.
Advent
reminds us that God has not forgotten us. He promised in the garden and
delivered in Bethlehem. He delivered again on Calvary, but that is another page
for a different time. In Advent, God breaks into the darkness and whispers…no
shouts…”peace among those with whom He is pleased!” The annual journey to
Bethlehem restores hope in the one who always keeps His word. When my heart
grows sick with the failure I see in this world and in myself, I look to Advent
and am reminded that from the beginning He had a plan, and He saw it through.
Advent pushes back against the darkness that seeks to overwhelm. The darkness
tries oh so hard, but Advent prevails and restores my hope.
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