After we’ve tried and been let down, seen glimmers of our desires only to have the door slammed in our face, and after we’ve been waiting and waiting seemingly in vain, it’s hard to allow our hearts to hope again. But it’s in these moments, when it seems like there’s no reason to hope, that we stand against despair by opening our hearts to hope again.
This was Abraham, who had no human reason to believe he and Sarah could have a child in their old age, but placed his hope and faith in God anyway.
And this was the woman who was bleeding for 12 years – spending everything she had to visit doctor after doctor only to get worse. At this point, she had no human reason to believe her situation would ever improve. But she still held onto hope and reached out in faith to touch the fringe of Jesus’ robe.
Likewise, this was the blind men who had no human reason to believe they could gain their sight, but place their hope and faith in Jesus anyway.
Despite their otherwise hopeless situations, there was a sense in which all these individuals believed in a type of Christmas magic – that is, in the advent of God and the person of Jesus Christ.
And this is where we must ultimately anchor our hope still.
Things might indeed seem hopeless from our perspective. And we might have no logical reason to believe our situation will ever change.
But we choose to place our hope and faith in Christ anyway – trusting he’s still more than able to bring us life to the full.
Of course, our faith includes trusting in his timeline and the infinite ways he might choose to bring us life. But we hold on to hope even when we don’t see the larger story unfolding.
When all hope seems gone, place your hope in Christ anyway. His presence in our lives gives us reason to believe the best is still yet to come even against all other odds.
Photo by Gage Smith on Unsplash
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