God with Us Brings Hope
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Have you ever heard those stories about someone lost at sea? In the summer of 2017, two longtime commercial fishermen—John Aldridge and Anthony Sosinski—set out to fish from Montauk, Long Island. As they headed out to sea, about forty miles offshore, Anthony was sleeping below deck while John started to get things ready for the catch …right off the boat.
The boat was on auto pilot… John began screaming for help… Anthony would never hear
John watched the boat go up and over the crest of a wave, and then it was gone… treading water in middle … of Atlantic… without a life vest.. thinking he was going to die.
Can you imagine what that must have felt like? If there’s ever been a hopeless situation, that has got to be it. Or is it?
While John was trying to calm down, quiet his thoughts of certain death and stay afloat, he realized that his boots were very buoyant . And he got an idea… created an air pocket…put them under his arms as flotation device.
At least he could stay afloat. A flicker of hope.
John thougth of his family… no one anywhere, even knew he was missing… except the two sharks circling… they didn’t care. He tried to set goals… stay afloat until morning.
Four hours later, Anthony woke up and realized john was gone. He called the Coast Guard… they didn’t have much hope of finding John… open water.
John made it alive to morning and tried to keep his hope alive. But hours kept passing… spotted a fishing buoy… This was a new surge of hope.
In less than an hour a Coast Guard helicopter flew by… They pulled John to safety...”We been looking for you for nine hours. Well, I’ve been looking for you for twelve.
Miraculously, John Aldridge survived. What an amazing story! And what amazing hope! If it were most of us out there bobbing alone in the middle of the ocean, we probably would have given up hope that there was even a chance—a sliver of a chance—to survive.
But hope is like that. Hope is the whisper that maybe, maybe these boots will float if I turn them upside down.
What is hope in your life?
For some, hope is the first candle to be lit when the power goes out in the storm.
Hope is the first day you wake up and can breathe again after an awful cold. And hope is that percentage you do have of beating the cancer.
It’s the first ray of sunshine through your window after a tearful, difficult night.
Hope is hearing the words, “He’s going to be OK.”
Hope is the fuel of faith and dreams.
And hope is what we celebrate on this first Sunday of Advent.
Entering Advent
Entering Advent
Advent is actually a season of hope. The word advent means “coming” or “arrival,” and the season is marked by expectation, waiting, anticipation, and longing. Advent is not just an extension of Christmas—it is a season that links the past, present, and future.
Advent is an opportunity to set aside time to prepare our hearts and help us place our focus on a far greater story than our own—the story of God’s redeeming love for our world. It’s not a season of pretending or covering over—it is a season of digging deep into the reality of what it means that God sent His Son into the world to be Immanuel, God with Us.
Advent is not a celebration that God comes to fix things—from broken computers to broken families to broken and hurting lives. Rather, simply, Advent is a celebration that God comes. God comes to be with us. He is the God with Us. In the darkness, in the pain, in the chaos, He comes. And He makes a way.
The Long Journey of Hope
The Long Journey of Hope
That’s the way God has been working throughout history. You see, back in the beginning, in the way God intended this creation, He walked freely and openly with Adam and Eve. He was with us, and humanity enjoyed wholeness and intimacy with God.
But you know the story. Adam and Eve chose sin… Separation from God… Do realize that God has been working toward restoration… story of the Bible… Throughout it, we can see God making a way and giving and reminding His people of hope that He is still at work.
But much time has passed, years and generations and centuries, and we humans are an impatient breed. We say, “How Long, O God?” There has been a deep and ongoing longing for God to fulfill His covenant and His promise of a Messiah, who would come to make everything right.
Isaiah lived seven hundred years before Jesus, but he gave us beautiful words that ring with hope for the coming Messiah. Listen to some of these:
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
Can you imagine living in an ancient world, well before the time of digital or even much written information, and hearing a message like that? Can you imagine the hope that would spring in the people’s hearts?
Maybe some of you are thinking,
That’s all nice and great for those people thousands of years ago, but what about for us? What about for me? They weren’t fighting cancer. Their spouse didn’t walk out on them. They didn’t lose their job with no warning, with bills to pay and debts stacking up and kids expecting Christmas presents, not to mention meals on the table.
No matter what kind of problems and struggles you are facing right now, no matter what kind of season of darkness and pain you are in, let me encourage you not to abandon hope. Hope is still alive, even in our deepest pain and most hopeless circumstances. Hope is alive because God is with us.
How can we know? How can we find that tiny spark of hope when we’re on the verge of giving up?
I think there are several ways that all of us can kindle and reconnect with God’s hope during this Advent season, no matter what kind of circumstances we are facing.
Hope Based on God’s Word
Hope Based on God’s Word
The first is hope based on God’s Word. Part of God with Us is the written word that He has left us. These are His promises to His people—both long ago and today. They are a piece of Him. They are beacons of hope. They are reminders that can penetrate our hearts and spirits and assure us that no matter what we are facing, no matter how bleak tomorrow looks, no matter how bad the pain, God will never leave us or forsake us. And nothing can separate us from Him.
Hope Based on God’s Character
Hope Based on God’s Character
The second way we can rekindle hope is to put our focus on God’s character—on who He is and promises to be.
There’s a small story told in the book of Mark (Mark 5:25–34) that is easy to overlook, but it’s a great story of hope. It’s about a woman—we don’t even know her name—with a bold hope.
For twelve years, this woman had been bleeding somehow… touch him… healed… crowd… Who touched me?… The woman must have frozen in that pregnant, powerful second. On the one hand, she knew that she had been healed miraculously. On the other, was she about to pay a harsh penalty for her presumption?
“Um, it was me,” she said timidly, fearfully.
And Jesus connected with her deeply and directly, as God with Us. And the healing, peace, and freedom He gave her changed her life.
This is our God. This is His character.
Hope Based on God’s Faithfulness
Hope Based on God’s Faithfulness
The third way we can find and choose hope is by focusing on God’s faithfulness.
How has God worked in your life? What are those moments and memories when you have experienced God’s work in your life? You know those times when you had no doubt He was there and He was working. Maybe it’s been recently. Maybe it’s been a long time ago. But in those circumstances swirling around you, the presence of God’s Spirit was with you.
What does that have to do with hope? What do those memories have to do with your here and now?
Gratitude breeds hope. Thankfulness fosters hope. Acknowledgment and appreciation bring hope.
Focusing on gratitude can renew and grow our hope. Recognizing and appreciating the good that God has shown us in the past can increase our hope for all He will do in the future. Sharing this gratitude and hope with those who love and support us can multiply its effects. As we nurture this living hope, it can sustain us through our darkest days as we wait for God to move.
I want to leave you with one last Scripture passage from Romans 15:13.
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” —Romans 15:13