Advent Week 1: Hope

When my husband and I decided to start a family, a fear crept into our minds that many parents-to-be have felt down through the generations. It goes something like this...We love each other and we want a family of our own, but how can we think of bringing a child into this world? With all the violence, all the corruption out there, isn't it more humane, more responsible, to spare a child exposure to such evil? Plus, with overcrowding and depletion of resources, wouldn't we just be adding to the problem?

What parent hasn't had such thoughts? Ultimately, my husband and I decided that to give in to that fear would mean turning our backs on life. It would mean giving in to the corruption of our world, rather than embracing the good in it. It would mean denying ourselves the joy of a child born from the bond of our marriage. Simply put, we chose hope over fear - hope that God would grant us the strength and perseverence to raise our child to be honest, responsible, and compassionate, thus adding weight to the goodness in the world.

Whether it is having a child, escaping bondage, or being delivered from the ravages of disease, we are hard-wired by our Creator for hope. There are times that we are mad at God or we can't understand why He permits some things and disallows others. There are times that we cannot envision an end to the gloom and rain, and it seems the finish line is a million miles away. But if we are faithful, we have hope that God will keep His promises. In the distant past, generations of slaves and families living in godless conditions longed for the Savior spoken of through the prophets. Today, many of us long for the return of Jesus for the same reasons. But regardless of what generation we belong to, we can have hope in our Lord and trust that He keeps His promises. We have undeniable proof that Jesus came as the Savior, so there's no reason to doubt His eventual return.

One of my favorite movies is "Shawshank Redemption," starring Tim Robbins as Andy Dufresne, a soft-spoken, intelligent man wrongfully imprisoned for murder. Despite enduring abuse, cruelty and corruption, Andy never gives up hope that he will one day be both free and redeemed. In a debate with a fellow inmate, Andy says, "Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things." The other inmate argues that hope can drive a man mad. I don't know about you, but I tend to think the absence of hope results in madness.

In this first week of Advent, let us remember that God has fulfilled our greatest hope by giving us a Savior to set us free and redeem us. If the corruption of our world gets us down, we can not only hope for Christ's return, we can count on it. The freedom found in Christ surpasses all human strength, all chains and prison bars, all bodily ailments. Having hope means having faith that God keeps His promises, and friends...He does.