Hope Reigns

"Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence

If you are like the majority of families in the world, your year has been filled with the whole range of life experience...joy, sadness, loss, struggle, illness, victories, and the list goes on.

This year, especially, we've seen many people, even leaders, struggle with a lack of hope. If you are leaving Alleppo right now your hope level may be not much more in size than a grain of sand. If you said goodbye to a loved one this year your supply of hope may be at an all time low.

While our circumstances and environment may be influenced by others and world events beyond our control, our spirit can thrive in desperate situations because of our Creator God and His provision and promises for us. Our plans may have to change. Our methods may have to change. Our attitudes may have to change. But God is unchanging and so is His abundant love for us. He is there with us in a hospital room, a crumbling marriage, or a far away land.

With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, whose birth we are celebrating, we are no longer in a hopeless state. Those who enter into a life with Christ do not exist under a cloud of total despair. Knowing this we can be hopeful even if it feels like our prospects and reserves are dwindling. The miracles still happen. And we can run alongside others and continue to speak hope over them when their lives may be faltering.

"The Christmas message is that there is hope for a ruined humanity–hope of pardon, hope of peace with God, hope of glory–because at the Father’s will Jesus became poor, and was born in a stable so that thirty years later He might hang on a cross." J.I. Packer

Live and move in hope. 

Keep running alongside others in need of hope.

Rejoice for your King has come. 

Hope is ours!

Photo credits: Used with permission "Hope" Artwork by Annie LaPoint

Boy decorating tree: Sheryl Bullock