I Dropped Baby Jesus

Saturday, Dec 5 - Hope
I recently received an e-letter from a friend of mine.
This friend is a "global worker" (we used to use the
"m" word to describe this gal, but we can't
anymore). She works in an undisclosed 10-40-
window-country. That means I can't tell you where
she is serving. However, her neighborhood has
become a war zone in recent weeks: bombs, rifles,
grenades (you get the picture). Her e-letter can't be
reprinted, but I can tell you some of the contents.
The day before she wrote this missive, five
brothers-of-the-faith had been martyred for their
beliefs. One dad, along, with his two teenage sons,
she and her husband knew very well. Their little
Christian community was rocked and deeply
grieving, but, she steadfastly declared, "Not without hope!" They all know that these modernday-martyrs
were not swallowed up in death, but to LIFE. It's why Jesus was born, so He could
die, to bring new hope of everlasting LIFE. It doesn't mean life will be easy or happy. It does
mean we all have a better something to look forward to in the midst of such tragedy. Hope is not
deferred even in this tragedy, making the heart sick (Proverbs 13:12)
On a recent trip to FOCUS on the Family with my daughter-in-love, the bookstore was having a
25%-off-the-entire-store sale. Since I am focusing on Advent, I bought a beautifully carved
Advent-wreath. This past week I lit the first candle, which represents HOPE. I understand the
need for HOPE so much more after pondering and praying over my friend's note. As I prayed, I
found myself in the middle of Jeremiah's Lamentations. Everything in his life had been stripped
away. Yet, in the middle of the loss, Jeremiah KNEW and DID NOT FORGET hope. That's
because he knew the only source of hope. Here are his words:
Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this:
The faithful love of the Lord never ends!
His mercies never cease.
Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each and every morning.
I say to myself, "The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in Him!"
The Lord is good to those who depend on Him, to those who search for Him.
So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord.
And it is good for people to submit at an early age to His yoke, to sit in silence beneath His commands.
Let them lie face down in the dust, for there may hope be found...no one is ever totally abandoned by the
Lord.
Though He brings grief, He also shows compassion, because of the greatness of His unfailing love. Who
can command things to happen without the Lord's permission? Does not the Most High send both
calamity and good?
Instead...let us turn back to the Lord, and lift our hearts and hands to God in heaven...
(excerpts from Lamentations 3:21-41)
Again, may we be reminders of the HOPE that is found forever in the faithfulness and mercies
of our God. He will, as Jeremiah goes on to remind us, be true to His promises regarding His
chosen, His beloved Children; and, He will come again! Advent is near!
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