Living in Hope

What is Advent?

Our word Advent comes from the Latin ‘Adventus’ which derives from the Greek word ‘Parousia’ which means coming. So in Advent what we’re doing is, we’re looking forward. Looking ahead to Jesus’s coming. Of course His first coming happened 2000 years ago, but during advent we step into that place of looking towards His coming.

So by definition advent is a time of waiting, a time of looking ahead, a time of expectance.

What are you looking forward to in your life? What yet unrealised thing is your heart fixed on? That’s called hope!

At some points in life, it’s hope that keeps us going. Keeps us pressing on when things aren’t easy. This makes me think of a man called Simeon mentioned in Luke chapter 2

Simeon

English Standard Version Chapter 2

Jesus Presented at the Temple

22 And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” 25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27 And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, 28 he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,

29  “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,

according to your word;

30  for my eyes have seen your salvation

31  that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,

32  a light for revelation to the Gentiles,

and for glory to your people Israel.”

33 And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. 34 And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed 35 (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

By verse 29 we can deduce that Simeon was probably an old man by this point.

He’d been told by the Holy Spirit that he would see the Christ before he died. How long must he have waited on this word? Years, decades?

Perhaps he’d been through times when that hope seemed unrealistic. He was frail, old, perhaps he hadn’t heard what he thought he’d heard?

Sometimes the waiting can be hard. There are things in life that God makes us wait for. We don’t always get to know why, it’s His timing and we don’t get to look into His sovereign schedule!

But now right at the end of his life, here was Simeon holding the hope of the world in his arms! What a feeling! Wow!

I like to think Simeon’s hope kept him going, kept him alive even. He believed God’s promise and wouldn’t let go.

Are there answers to prayer that you’re still waiting for? Are you holding onto that hope still?

Proverbs 13:12

English Standard Version Chapter 13

12  Hope deferred makes the heart sick,

but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.

We were born in sin as Psalm 51 says, and our hearts are desperately sick as Jeremiah 17:9 says. With this being the case sometimes our hearts, especially before we come to know Jesus, but even afterwards, can end up hoping in things that don’t deliver.

Wolves FA Cup semi final

Have you ever had that happen to you? Something you were really excited for but it didn’t happen? It can leave a scar and take time and healing to get over.

True biblical hope is like waiting for Christmas to come. You know it’s gonna come! It’s just a matter of waiting. When you trust in God’s promises you KNOW they’re going to come about, it’s just a matter of when. So hope in God is never going to be deferred, it’s never going to make our heart sick. We know that his promises to us in Jesus are YES and AMEN!

So as Christians we’re supposed to live in Advent ALL THE TIME. Always to be looking forwards with a confident expectancy that God will come through, that He will answer our prayers and ultimately that our Lord Jesus is coming back to wipe away every tear and set everything to rights.

Prayer.