A Hope Fulfilled - Advent DevotionalSample

One of my favorite Christmas Carols is “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” The end of the first verse is as follows: Yet in thy dark streets shineth, the everlasting light; the hopes and fears of all the years, are met in thee tonight. As we enter the second week of Advent, it is that phrase “the hopes and fears of all the years” that catches me. Hope and fear are the two sides of the experience of life. As we walk into dark and desolate places, when we feel like darkness threatens to overwhelm the light, do we walk in fear and desperation, or do we walk in hope and faith?

This week, we journey through the tension of hope and fear. We know this tension well, for we experience the tug of both daily. When the world threatens to overwhelm us, and we are shaken to the core, can we stand firm in hope and faith, waiting in patient confidence for our faithful God? When we face conflict, do we find comfort and strength from the Spirit’s indwelling presence? The world is a dark place. Lies, conflict, pain, sorrow, and death surround us. And yet, the Lord promises that the darkness will not have the final word. He is bringing light to the darkness. He promises to meet us in our pain. If we stand in faith, we will see how “the Lord can counter our expectations and simultaneously surpass them” most wonderfully and extraordinarily.

In the incarnation, in the birth of a helpless babe, the hopes and fears of all the years are indeed met. He is the great comforter and deliverer of Israel and all who are faithful to his name. He is the child, the Son, prophesied of old to usher in a kingdom of peace which will have no end. So, what is our response? With Mary, may we magnify the Lord with every fiber of our being. May we heed the call of John the Baptist and prepare the way of the Lord. May we live in the reality of a hope inaugurated in that little town of Bethlehem and fulfilled in the world to come.

Prayer

Almighty and eternal God, giver and sustainer of hope, vanquish the fears of our hearts, and enable us to stand in faithful endurance on the promises you have given us through Jesus Christ our Lord, with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, Amen.

Melissa Davis, Ph.D., serves as adjunct faculty for the Regent University School of Divinity.