By: Pastor Brian Rogers

“Hope does not mean doing nothing…It means a confident, alert expectation that God will do what He said He will do.  It is imagination put in the harness of faith.  It is a willingness to let God do it His way in His time” – Dallas Willard, A Long Obedience In the Same Direction

I am thankful for the hope that is found in Jesus.  No matter how dark the hour, no matter how desperate the situation, as a Christian, there is an assurance that we are never alone.

I am sure that there were days across the nine months of waiting that Mary must have felt alone.  As her friends and family began to find out about her pregnancy, I’m sure they began to bombard her with questions.  They must have rolled their eyes and shook their heads in disbelief, doubting her story about an Angel appearing and that this child she was carrying was to be the Messiah they had waited so long to receive.

As the days wore on, she likely found herself more and more alone, afraid, and wondering how this would all work out.  How will God accomplish all that He has promised through His angel?

And yet planted deep within her was this confident expectation. An unshakable hope that God would do what He had said He would do.  An undying assurance that He would fulfill His promise to her.  The words the angel had spoken to her continued to ring in her ear over and again, “For nothing is impossible with God.”

She could never really doubt that God’s promise to her was true.  This child being formed in her was His plan. God would not fail to do what He promised.  She simply had to wait for Him to work.

The story is told of a man who approached a little league baseball game one afternoon. He asked a boy in the dugout what the score was. The boy responded, “Eighteen to nothing—we’re behind.” “Boy,” said the spectator, “I’ll bet you’re discouraged.” “Why should I be discouraged?” replied the little boy. “We haven’t even gotten up to bat yet!”

God didn’t fail Mary, and He will not fail us either.  He is just getting up to bat!  We can put our hope in Him and be assured that just as His promises were true and sure for Mary, they are true for us today.

“My soul claims the Lord as my inheritance; therefore I will hope in him. The Lord is wonderfully good to those who wait for him, to those who seek for him. It is good both to hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord” (Lamentations 3:24-26)

Parents: Explain to your children what it means to be in confident expectation for something. Share a time with them whenever you waited on God and He was faithful.