hope

The presents are all opened. The feasts have all turned into leftovers, reminders of the meals shared with friends and family. The ugly sweaters are once again relegated to the very back of the closet... until next year. Soon, lights and decorations will be taken down and here in Arkansas we'll move into the cold of winter.

 

The anticipation of Christmas is gone, replaced for a moment by the anticipation of the New Year... but everybody knows it isn't the same. That's because everyone knows there's something different about Christmas. The joy and hope you see on faces is different because it stems up from someplace deeper, somewhere at the core of each one of us. It is a hope that comes from that place in the soul of each person, from that deep down hidden place that knows each of us is made to be connected to the Divine.

 

For some, that joy and peace hinted at at Christmas very quickly give way to a quiet desperation, a search for the connection you were meant for. The joy felt at Christmas is a whisper of what should be--a joy that isn't based on anything other than the promise and hope of what is to come. When that hoped-for holiday ends, some people are left feeling only the letdown of hope deferred:

 

"Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life."
(Proverbs 13:12)

 

For others, though, the joy and hope felt at Christmas are small glimpses of the hope we still hold--the promise that the tiny baby who came for the first time roughly 2,000 years ago will one day return, this time as King. The joy we feel at the coming of the One who came to give us the gift of salvation from our sins will pale in comparison with the joy we will feel when He returns to give us the gift of eternal life in the presence of God.

 

"All this will flow from the kind and compassionate mercy of our God.
        A new day is dawning:
        the Sunrise from the heavens will break through in our darkness,
And those who huddle in night,
        those who sit in the shadow of death,
    Will be able to rise and walk in the light,
        guided in the pathway of peace."
(Luke 1:78&79)

"We live with hope in the Eternal. We wait for Him,
    for He is our Divine Help and Impenetrable Shield.
Our hearts erupt with joy in Him
    because we trust His holy name.
O Eternal, drench us with Your endless love,
    even now as we wait for You."
(Psalm 33:20-22)

The joy and anticipation of Christmas might be over, but the promise of the Returning King carries us through the darkness of this world.