As a mom of a baby, I am often up before the sun rises. As I nurse, my head turns from my sweet baby to the open window showcasing the new day. Even if the sky is cloudy, the sun always finds a way to brighten even a dreary day.
In the morning, light is slow and sweet. Awakening the world, this light rises up over the horizon and cascades over the tree line. A golden glow gently tinges every bare bough and brown yard. A tangible light unhurriedly and confidently snubs out the night, illuminating and enlightening the darkness.
This paradoxical light languidly yet passionately moves across the earth, professing good news that the dawn has arrived and the night is finished. Hearts no longer need to fear.
This morning light signifies a good gospel shining on a dark world and spotlighting the beauty amidst the broken.
If the night was long and dark, the rising sun is a sweet, refreshing reminder that all nights come to an end. In the morning, new mercies are found. Hope is birthed in the presence of a fresh dawn.
But let’s be honest, some of us have kept ourselves in a darkness of delinquency and dereliction just because we refuse to take the flood light of love that our Savior longs to pour over us. We don’t believe it’s for us or we think our dark is too dark for God.
Hear this: The dark is not dark to God.
Troubled hearts are not a trouble to him. He is the God who cares about and for all of our pain. God’s light breaks through the darkest night. No matter how many ways you try to hide a light, it will physically shine through your own skin.
And so, Isaiah 9 begins with the promise of a new dawn. Where darkness once ruled, light will reign. Where many have suffered, light will heal. God’s people have waited and waited for this prophecy to come to fruition.
We ask, how will this breakthrough occur?
Isaiah says a child will be born. And we see the virgin Mary wait patiently for this baby to be born.
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
Isaiah 9:6
This king will reign forever with peace and justice and righteousness. And our devoted God, the Lord Almighty, “will accomplish this” (Is. 9:7). For us, for those who believe He can.
Therefore, Mary, this blessed girl who believes and receives, waits with a hope so bold and confident it will not be defeated.
I notice a verse in the book of Romans that lays out three ways we can build biblical hope while we wait. This verse follows a string of events that happens from our most broken places. The work of faith starts in our hardships and builds to a glorious, everlasting hope.
“…we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
Romans 5:3-5
Firstly, we rejoice in suffering.
This does mean we paint a smile on our faces and hide our pain. Maybe you can’t see the silver lining, you’re in the middle of the chaos, and nothing seems right. Rejoicing in suffering means to keep believing that God is good. God is faithful and He will fulfill the promises He has made. Even if it takes days, weeks, months, or years, God will provide. There is joy in suffering as our savior’s hands hold our hearts in peace.
We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.
2 Corinthians 4:8-10
When we work through the pain, God meets and walks with us right through the middle where we find the ability to rejoice.
Then, just like a muscle that needs strengthening: when you repeat something over and over again, you develop endurance.
With this endurance comes a divine peaceful patience. In a commentary by Matthew Henry, the “powerful grace of God working in and with the [suffering]” develops patience. He states it’s not the actual trial that strengthens us, but the falling on our knees over and over again calling out to God that upholds us. We see God explicitly working in ways that only the celestial could ever work.
And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 1 Peter 5:10
Eventually, we listen with baited breath in the dark, and God sings his love over us. And as we wait, we condition our minds and hearts with rich scripture, saturating every pore of our being with the truth. As we build godly endurance, we don’t always have to “feel” God to know he is with us and working for our good. We believe that God is who he says He is, no matter what.
Thirdly, strengthening our stamina for hardship, our capacity for building character increases.
Our character either crumbles as we turn to bitterness or it becomes who we are in Christ when we go to him over and over again for courage and fortitude.
We begin to cherish our time with him. Then our entire being shines the way Jesus shines as he comes into each of our hearts when we meet each time. Our tenacity reinforces our need for Jesus, and Christmas fulfills our hope that Jesus has come. He is the child that has been born to save us from ourselves. He is our great love storming the gates of our heart to save us from destroying our very souls.
Subsequently, strength of character raises our hope in salvation. And that hope fills our hearts with love. Love overflows and affects those to whom we are closest.
Finally, in a little town of Bethlehem, a baby born.
And in this God child, the hopes and fears of all the years meet face to face. An encounter of two extremes found in our Savior. He holds them both, binds them together, and creates something beautiful.
Ann Voskamp from her devotional “The Greatest Gift” states, “When you really believe in Christmas, you believe there is really hope for everyone. When you get Christmas, people get hope from you–they don’t lose it.” (p.140)
I pray that in this season we would hear the hope that is beckoning our aching hearts to trust and believe. And then let the hope envelop our aching hearts and pour out from an overflow of abundance.
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
Romans 15:13
Your Turn
- Reread Isaiah 9:6. Which title of God resonates most with you this season? Why?
- Ask God to fill you with joy and peace this Christmas season. Allow the Holy Spirit to do the work in you so that “you may abound in hope.”
And that’s a wrap, my friend. I hope you have enjoyed this three-part Advent Devotional. If this is your first time here, welcome 🙂 If you put your email in below, you can receive weekly encouragement from me. If you know of someone who would enjoy these posts, please feel free to forward. Thank you again for joining me!
Peace and joy,
In Case You Missed It…
- Advent Part 1: Overcoming Dread of the Dark
- Advent Part 2: Three Ways to Wait Patiently for God
Drawing YOU closer to God's heart, one hopeful word at a time
