Jesus the Gift of Grief: Overcoming the Holiday BluesShembull

Day 3- Jesus the GIFT of HOPE

Congratulations, you made it to day 3 of our devotional and I hope that you’ve enjoyed all of your gifts! This last gift makes me especially happy because it’s something that I believe the entire world needs to open right now: HOPE.

I believe that we can all agree that one of the immediate feelings that come as a result of grief is hopelessness. If you are human, you’ve probably felt helpless a time or two. You may have believed that nothing you could do would make any difference no matter how hard you tried.

Hopelessness is ruthless because it tries to drive you into a place of despair and rob you of any belief that things have the potential to get better. If we are not careful, these seasons of hopelessness can morph into an ongoing outlook on life; where we begin to expect the worst to happen. But Jesus, the gift of hope, offers us a fresh perspective on the darkness in our lives. While we have limited thinking, Jesus is capable of seeing the bigger picture of our lives; aren’t you so glad about that!

Hope is defined as the confident expectation of good and is based on believing the promises of God. In other words, hope brings about confidence in Jesus and His ability to bring us into a brighter future and a better place in our lives.

"To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified." Isaiah 61:3 KJV

When the hope that Jesus brings is applied to our lives, we can expect all of the wonderful benefits of a Savior that is concerned enough to see to it that we can live lives that are FULL and that bring FREEDOM from grief and despair. A hope that gives us something to look forward to for the bright future that He promised.

I want to leave you with this last scripture to meditate on and remember when and if hopelessness tries to creep in: “For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11 NLT