Daily Advent Devotions from Church Street UMC
Wednesday, November 30
By David Lineberger
Hope in a World of Chaos
Read: Hebrews 10:23 NIV
“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.”
What comes to your mind when you hear the word chaos? Lawlessness, confusion, disorder, and disarray are some words that might pop into your mind. We certainly live in times that could be defined using the word chaos. While many would agree that there has never been a time that was completely absent of chaos, our current political and environmental climates are acutely focused on events that could very well impact most of life today in a disastrous way. Even if we can solve our nation’s political divide, we are mindful that an even more ominous threat looms in our future with climate change.
It is within this background that we Christians focus with renewed emphasis on the hope of the good that God brings to us all in the coming of Jesus into our hearts and minds, a hope that darkness will not prevail, but a light that will overcome it. We celebrate the arrival of God’s promise to us all, a promise of love, forgiveness, and hope for our relationship with Him, with each other, and for our joy throughout eternity.
Some Christian traditions refer to the Advent candle of hope as the prophet’s candle. It symbolizes the joyous expectation felt in anticipation of the birth of the Messiah as foretold by many prophets, especially Isaiah.
In these times of fear of the unknown, of a world in chaos, we cling to the one unfailing hope that is sure, that of the promise of God’s love revealed to us in the birth of our savior, the Messiah, who is God with us!
Prayer
Lord of the universe, we lay down our fears and concerns of a chaotic world at your feet, knowing that your love for us can and will overcome anything that tries to overpower us. Give us the hope and peace we celebrate in your Son, the child born in Bethlehem. Amen.
