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To Hopelessness

Christmas is the Answer to Hopelessness

When I was in my early twenties, my grandma was diagnosed with Stage 4 COPD and given only one year to live. I remember how scared she was knowing that her time would be coming to an end. But she wasn’t in despair. She had hope in Jesus. At the funeral, one year later, my stepdad preached the Gospel. The crowd was full of all sorts of faiths and beliefs. Most everyone had heard the message before. What was interesting was the response. The people who didn’t believe in Jesus were hopelessly in despair over the loss of my grandma. While the Christians in the room were understandably grieving, but not to the point of despair. They had hope in Jesus.

We see Jesus bring hope visibly throughout the Bible.

In Luke 2:25-33, we see a short excerpt about Simeon who lived in Jerusalem during the time when Jesus was just a baby. Jerusalem had been waiting for a messiah to bring them comfort. What is unique about Simeon is that the Holy Spirit had told him that Jesus would come to save Jerusalem before he died.

Luke 2:25-33

25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27 And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, 28 he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, 29 “Lord, now you are letting your servant[a] depart in peace, according to your word; 30 for my eyes have seen your salvation 31 that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.” 33 And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him.

 

As you can see, Simeon (and all of Jerusalem) had hope for a savior, and that hope was fulfilled. Now, Simeon could die in peace. This is one of the greatest pictures of hope.

As we wait today for the second coming of Jesus to restore the Earth, where do we find our hope? The fears and struggles we face daily often take over our lives. Sometimes we feel alone or abandoned by God.

Jeremiah 17:7

But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him.

 

Do we put our hope Jesus?

I know some of us also struggle with hoping in Jesus because we haven’t seen Him work (however, I promise if you look back over your life, you’ll see visible evidence of the Lord working in your life). Yet, some of us struggle with even believing that the Lord exists.

Romans 8:24

For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope.

For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

 

Regardless of if you believe the Bible or not, that’s just common-sense psychology right there. But the Bible is a great place to find more stories about people who have persevered by putting their hope in Jesus.

Romans 15:4

For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.

I’ll ask this again, where do we find our hope?

 

 

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