The Processናሙና

Day 4: Hope is the Key:

Welcome to day 4! With the completion of this day, you’re over halfway done with the plan. Today, we’re discussing a critical ingredient in the process we must have if we want to see the promise come to fruition: hope.

The night Jesus was born. Based on the many images and songs about his birth, we think He was placed in a manger used for fodder to feed animals. He, who was to state later that He was “the bread of life,” was placed in a manger, a food source (John 6:35). This was just one of the many prophecies fulfilled in Jesus’ life. The place He was born was also prophesied (Mic. 5:2; Num. 24:17). The shepherds who came to see Him were tough men, used to fighting off lions and bears and protecting their flocks from many dangers, just like King David had done many years prior in the same fields. As shepherds, they protected the Good Shepherd, keeping the place of his birth safe. Safe enough to be vulnerable, to give birth to the promise. The shepherds who kept the sheep and lambs safe were there to care for the Lamb of God.

While Joseph and Mary were still on their way, when the door of the inn was closed, it may have seemed as though God was not speaking, as if all was silent. But God had spoken to the wise men, who were already on their way before Jesus was even born. The wise men came bringing myrrh, frankincense, and gold. Many scholars say that the gifts presented by the wise men to Jesus were enough to sustain his family for a long time. If Joseph and Mary had not been where God had sent the wise men, they would not have received the provision they needed for the next season (Ps. 72:10-11). If the inn had not rejected them, they would not have been in the place prophesied hundreds of years prior. It is hard to believe when you are in a process, heavily pregnant and having traveled for seven days on a donkey, that there will be wise men waiting on the other side, carrying the provision and blessing needed for the years to come. But dear friend, the wise men are waiting just around the corner for you too.

To do what you were made for, you need a change of heart, a deeper level of trusting God and learning to build on Him when things are out of your control, things that you cannot explain. Trust Him in those moments; that will help you when it feels like you are moving backward, and this storm will never end.

Everyone goes through storms in their lives. However, we Christians have an advantage in that we have the guidance and comfort, as well as the fire of the Holy Spirit, to light our way and to burn away those things that do not belong in our character. Truly it is the hope we have through the Holy Spirit that is probably the most important key to getting through the storms.

So, amid the storms, difficulties, and hardships, amid rejection and uncertainty, do not lose your hope.