Hope: Advent 1 (2025)

Jehovah Jireh: The God Who Provides Hope

Intro- SERIES

How advent works - Each year - we light candles and we anchor ourselves into the season with important realities of our Christian faith.

HOPE —> PEACE —> JOY —> FAITH

Each week we look at the journey to the incarnation (the birth of Jesus — God becoming flesh and dwelling among us).

This year, I thought it would be beautiful to use these themes, combined with the names of God to help orient us towards him and this season.

So week 1 - let’s focus on the idea of Jehovah Jireh — The God who provides.

It comes from Genesis 22:13–14 “Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.””

Week 1 of Advent is HOPE — and what is it ultimately that God provides to all of us and even to Abraham in this moment. HOPE.

A way out, a way forward, a way through — HOPE.

Every human needs HOPE. And we all have it in one way or another. You can’t even live without it. Maybe it’s anchored into wrong things or misguided things but we all have it.

We get up in the morning because of HOPE.

-Maybe it’s in a JOB or a PROMOTION

-Maybe it’s in the love of a spouse

-Maybe it’s in the stock market

-Maybe it’s a future vacation

-Maybe it’s in the holidays coming up

But ultimately I want, as your pastor, for it to be in the Jehovah Jireh — the God who provides HOPE.

That’s what we need to consider today.

What is hope?

The Bible uses a version of the word hope nearly 200 times. The most common usage both in Hebrew and Greek is the idea of EXPECTATION.

And often you will find the biblical definition of hope as “TO WAIT”

As in - “TO WAIT WITH EXPECTATION”

In fact, it’s not uncommon that HOPE and WAIT share the same root or same word in many languages.

In Spanish you might hear the phrase - “Siempre hay esperanza" — or “there is always hope”

Esperar in Spanish could also be translated as “wait”

So there’s this idea of WAITING that comes with hope. Expectation is one of the beauties of the Christian faith. To come to church with the expectation that God will do something.

To wake up in the morning with the expectation that God will be faithful.

Let’s break down biblical hope in three ways as we define it…

Prayerful expectation - That God will show up. - Jehovah Jireh

Isaiah 2:1–5 “This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem: In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. Many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. Come, descendants of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord.”

Where do you anchor your hope? Let’s use church for example. Is your hope in meeting God at this place with God’s family? Or is it for something else.

I hope they play the songs I like.

I hope the sermon isn’t boring.

I hope my kids like the kids church.

OR is there prayerful expectation.

I expect God to meet me in the worship.

I expect God to reveal his word to me in the sermon.

I expect God to meet my kids where they are at.

What about in the rest of your life? Is your hope misplaced? Is it in something that won’t actually satisfy or bring contentment? Bring life and love?

This can be the reality in all of life.

Let me use an example from Elane O’Rourke that will help us understand a little more.

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Well-loved dogs are generally happy. Why shouldn’t they be? They are fed and housed. They are kept clean and healthy. They are praised when they do well and corrected when they err. If they were able to look ahead and fret about the future, they wouldn’t, because experience would show them that they will continue to be well-loved.

A happy, healthy, well-loved dog is a hopeful dog. That dog will sidle up to you when you’re not looking, and gaze at you until you pet him. He’ll sit under your two-year-old’s highchair, trusting she’ll drop more food than she eats.

When the right time comes, the well-loved dog knows that dinner will appear. It might be late. It might be different. It might get spilled. But dinner will come. So at the right time for dinner, the well-loved dog’s tail begins to wag, for it abides in hope, knowing that dinner will show up. And not just that it will show up, but that someone the dog loves will provide it.

Well-loved little children are much the same way. They abide in hope, in the deep and secure knowledge that the ones who love them will provide for them. Little children never doubt that they will be taken care of. Their bouncily excited anticipation of good things isn’t wishful thinking, because they know good things will come. That is hope.

God’s adult children should feel the same way. But cynicism and distrust replace hope with anxiety. Over time hope dissipates, a victim of emotional identity theft. Part of formation in Christlikeness is recognizing God’s provision, reclaiming hope, and returning it to its rightful place of assuredness. Tail wagging optional.

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What does it look like for you to trust that God will provide? Like the dog anticipating dinner - knowing the person they love will provide it.

Losing track of the Jehovah Jireh

O’Rourke brings up a point about hope that I want to hammer home.

Reclaiming hope.

We’ve replaced hope with anxiety. Stressed lives.

-Have you lost your hope to stress?

-Do a quick peek into your heart and mind and ask yourself… have I replaced my hope with stress?

I like to tell people that worry is the check-engine light of your heart.

The check-engine light doesn’t always mean peril. It often just means you need to get something fixed before the problem gets worse.

-Worry is like that. It starts with little things like… will God provide in this… Or I need to control this situation. I

-When stress takes over… health problems begin to follow and the car goes from a simple check-engine light to needing a new transmission.

Don’t let worry replace your hope.

Take a deep breath, pray through your worries. Let God hold all that you are worried about.

There’s two other things we do that when it comes to losing our hope. And how we need to reclaim it.

I’m going to use the dog example again because it’s perfect for how we also act.

ME—my dog likes to pretend it’s dinner early. He also likes to pretend to another one of us in that he didn’t have dinner even after he’s already eaten it.

I believe these are both examples of how we can sometimes approach God.

Don’t assume our timing is better than God’s

We feed our dog everyday at 3:15pm. IT’s when the kids get home from school so that’s when my oldest son feeds him.

If we are home with him, on breaks or on the weekends, at about 2pm… he starts to sit by the door where his food is stored. He starts to sit at our feet and stare at us. And we always say to him, “Beau, it’s not time yet.” But he doesn’t care. He gives us a look of betrayal that we won’t feed him early or maybe that we are lying to him about what time it actually is.

Sometimes we approach God the same way. God… you’re late.

-If I were you, I would have provided for me weeks ago… what’s going on?

-The pastor talks about hope, but I always gotta come through for myself.

Luke 2:22–40 “When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”), and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.” Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.” The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.” There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.”

Waiting for the consolation of Israel… waiting… “you won’t die until you see it.”

-But did you have to wait until I was an old man?

Waiting…

God is never early but he’s also never late because his timing is always perfect.

Don’t let your timing STEAL your HOPE. Trust in God’s timing. Believe in his promises.

Oh I also told you that my dog likes to pretend he hasn’t eaten when he has. If one person in my house feeds him, he will try to trick another that didn’t see him eat that he hasn’t eaten yet. You know why? Cause he wants a little more.

Does this sound familiar?

Lack of contentment with what God has already provided

It’s so easy to be discontent especially in our COMPARISON culture.

-Social media makes it really easy to compare each other’s lives. But social media only gives you the highlights, so you are comparing someone else’s greatest hits to your behind the scenes.

-But comparison is beyond social media.

-Don’t get caught up in it, it will only steal your joy and your hope.

You have a God who has provided and continues to provide and yet you whine about how much it was.

I had a conversation with a financial person one time and they said that most people that find themselves unable to pay their bills or struggling to make ends meet. Most (not all) but most actually have plenty but they use it poorly. They are paying for things they don’t need, buying stuff for no reason, or having exuberant car payments they can’t afford, or house payments or whatever.

Maybe some of the discontent is our own inability to be good stewards of what we have actually been GIVEN.

But discontent is also a posture no matter how much you have.

The Bible teaches that contentment can be found no matter the circumstance.

Psalm 23 starts with - “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall no want” or as it’s better translated, “I lack nothing.”

How can you say, you lack nothing? “Seek first the kingdom of God and the rest will be added unto you.”

How do I live in the promise of Jesus’ hope?

Romans 5:1–5 NIV

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

All of what we have been talking about is here. Jehovah Jireh.

Peace — which is next week, so I don’t want to get into it heavily but it all works together, the four themes of advent.

Peace this contentment we feel from being well-loved by our God. Who provides for us.

We can boast in the hope of the glory of God. Even if we suffer — because we know that through suffering we develop deeper character of perseverance and lasting hope.

Hope does not put us to shame.

So how do we live in the promise of Jesus’ hope — we take a deep breath, wait patiently upon the Lord, trust that He loves us even in the midst of sufferings, and walk daily with him as our guide.

Let’s pray.

How can we identify aspects of our lives where we have misplaced our hope?

In what ways can we actively cultivate a spirit of prayerful expectation in our daily routines?

What practical steps can we take to reclaim hope when we find ourselves overwhelmed by anxiety?

How do the biblical examples of Abraham and Simeon inspire us to wait on God with hope?

What role does community play in reinforcing our hope in God's provision?

How can we shift our focus from earthly expectations of hope to a more profound trust in Jehovah Jireh?

What tangible actions can we take in our lives to remind ourselves of God's past provisions?

How does our present comparison culture affect our ability to feel contentment and hope?

In what ways can we practice gratitude to combat feelings of discontent and reclaim hope?

What are some specific examples of how waiting on God's timing has positively impacted your spiritual journey?