I have been waiting for this season for months. It is my favorite time of year. No matter what is going on in life, I am always extra hopeful during this season.

Today marks the beginning of Advent and I look forward to celebrating and focusing my area of study on the anticipation and birth of Christ. Advent means “coming,” as in “Christ is coming.” It represents the expectation, anticipation, and preparation of the birth of Jesus. Jesus was born as fully God and fully man, and even as the King of the world, He was born in a lowly manger to identify with us. He came for us so that we may have the hope of Eternal life, and to live and reign in our hearts.

His coming fulfills the Old Testament prophecies such as the one fromJeremiah 33:14-16. It states, “The days are coming, ’declares the LORD, ‘when I will fulfill the good promise I made to the people of Israel and Judah. In those days and at that time I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line; he will do what is just and right in the land. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. This is the name by which it will be called: The LORD Our Righteous Savior.’”

Lately as I have dwelled upon the hope of Christ, I immediately think of the words from the famous Christmas hymn, “Oh Holy Night.” “A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices.” This year has been a weary one so it does my soul good to read and study about this blessed hope. I long for Christ and need His hope today more than ever before. I’ve always been a very hopeful person but that hope has been challenged as my world has been turned upside down from health problems the past couple of years.

I am Type A by nature and have always had a plan or something to hope for in the future. However, that has changed — that is, changed in the way the world so often views hope. For example, I no longer have the hope of a job to return to, the hope of continuing education, or the hope of a marriage, and the list could go on and on. Even though none of these earthly hopes are present in a my life, I have the Heavenly Hope that comes from Jesus. He is enough. He is my healer, provider, husband, sustainer, and the lover of my soul.

Jesus is my greatest hope and that will never change no matter what comes my way. He is the only hope I need, and turns my darkness into light and brings comfort to my weary soul.

I am so grateful for this gift of hope, and I pray that you will cling to it no matter what circumstances you find yourself in today. Thanks for joining me on this Advent journey and be sure to read the blog next week as I write about peace.

To find all the post in this series viset here.