Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Hebrews 11:1
We are called to hope.
If you're anything like me, the last months have taken their best shot at your ability to hope. Between sickness, uncertainty, fear of what we don't understand, anxiety over what we can't control, conflicting expectations and uncomfortable recommendations, 2020 has not exactly been conducive to being hopeful.
Here we are, months into what every retailer sending emails on Black Friday will once again call "unprecedented times", and so much of our outlook on daily life has been upended. Many of us have had to change and adjust much of our lives in just this past 24 hours, much less the last week or month. No matter how much sleep we get, we somehow still always wake up a bit too tired. Even though we just ate an hour ago, we somehow need another snack or meal already. The activities that we relied upon for rest, relaxation, and escape, don't seem to be the salve that we had come to take for granted.
Yet amidst this fog of a year, we await the coming Christ in the Advent season.
By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
Hebrews 11:8-10
We are called to hope.
A hope that Abraham modeled for us thousands of years ago as he lived in response to the promise that God had made - even as he found himself in the midst of unprecedented times (there it is again), in unknown territory, in a decidedly unexpected situation.
While much of our year has felt like we're living in tents in a foreign land, we also look forward to the city that God has built. Not only that, but we are called to help build it. Now. In the midst of our transition. In the middle of our wilderness, we can be creating something new, just as we know God makes all things new. As so many - ourselves included - find themselves lost, we can point to a hope in a promise that has always been and will forever be true.
We are called to hope.
Amen.
Activity/Prayer:
Get 7 pieces of paper, note cards, or something similar.
On the front side of each piece, write down one thing that you're hopeful for.
On the back side, write down a person, place, or thing that reminds you of what you wrote on the front.
Each day this week, take 5 minutes with one of your pieces of paper or cards, and spend time reflecting on and praying for the things you wrote.