Hope

Advent devotional.

I hope your week’s off to a great start! I recently wrote three brief thoughts for an Advent devotional that is connected to a Facebook page (links are located at the end). There’s also a link to a .pdf document of the entire series if you’d like to have it. Here is the first of the three. I’ll post the others as they appear in the devotional on specific days. The authors are not named in the devotional, so you’ll just have to trust me that I wrote this one!

Photo by Lynnelle Richardson

HOPE

Isaiah 11:1-9

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
    from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—
    the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
    the Spirit of counsel and of might,
    the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—
3 and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.

He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
    or decide by what he hears with his ears;
4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
    with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
    with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
5 Righteousness will be his belt
    and faithfulness the sash around his waist.

6 The wolf will live with the lamb,
    the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling[a] together;
    and a little child will lead them.
7 The cow will feed with the bear,
    their young will lie down together,
    and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
8 The infant will play near the cobra’s den,
    and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.
9 They will neither harm nor destroy
    on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord
    as the waters cover the sea.

What about today’s world gives you any hope? On the global stage, it appears that war, chaos, greed, and disregard for human life are the characteristics of our day. Reading through Isaiah, one does not see much of a difference. I wonder how people who try to make it through this life without the hope that Christ brings can function.

Being hope-filled does not mean that all of the circumstances of your life are good. G. K. Chesterton said, “Hope is the power of being cheerful in circumstances which we know to be desperate.” Isaiah writes in desperate times, and we live in them. Good thing hope is not a stranger to the believer.

“Hope is the power of being cheerful in circumstances which we know to be desperate.” - G. K. Chesterton

Isaiah’s Messianic prophecy is filled with hope. As you read through that text, let the comfort of God surround your heart. He gave the people hope as God promised one of “wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might” (Isaiah 11:2) was coming. For the poor and oppressed, justice was coming. For the conflicted and exhausted, peace is ahead. 

For us, we read the Gospels and see how Jesus not only lived and breathed these promises but gave a further promise. He is coming again. The wonder of Advent is the power of expectation. Not just for us, but “the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (Isaiah 11:9). Never give up hope.

Questions

1. In what ways does this text remind you of the importance of believers offering hope to a world of unbelievers?

2. What are some hopeful signs in today’s reading that you can relate to your life today?

Prayer

God, thank you for Isaiah’s hopeful message and the reminder that everything we are facing today is not the end of the story. Thank you for the hope that rises above the circumstances and fills us with expectation. Amen.

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Linkage

LINK to the Advent Photo-A-Day Devotional Facebook page.

LINK to the 32 page .pdf file including all devotionals and photos.

LINK to Wiki on What Is Advent?

Recents

When The Holidays Are Hard … where can I find joy when I can’t. Sermon notes, audio, and video.

22 Encouragements For Strugglers from the little letter to the Philippians.

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