A Season of Hope

So I say, "My splendor is gone and all that I had hoped from the Lord."

I remember my affliction and my wandering,
the bitterness and the gall.
I well remember them,
and my soul is downcast within me.
Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:

Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.

Lamentations 3:18-22

This passage at first glance seems incongruous to the whole season of Advent, which began yesterday. Yet here my daily quiet times had me reading the book of Lamentations, a book remembering the fall of Jerusalem, the burning of the temple, and the carrying off of the Jews into Exile. Everything that they had hoped from the Lord, the promises of his blessing are gone. Not much chance of hope.

The prophet Jeremiah says otherwise. He says despite all of the bad things that have happened there is still hope. He places his hope in God’s character, not in his actions. It is so easy to say “well God did this to me so he must be (fill in the blank).” Instead of looking at it this way, “God is loving (as Jeremiah did), even if he allowed this to happen.” It’s all a matter of perspective.

Which brings me to Advent. This is a season of hope, of believing in the promises of prophecy as they come true before your eyes, and more importantly in your heart. It is one thing to hear the promise “unto us a son is born, unto us a son is given (Isaiah 9:6).” It is another thing entirely to realize that promise is for you as an individual, this child that is born, is born for you, he is given to you for the salvation of your sins. This internalization of a promise does not however negate its promise for the larger community, it actually enhances it. If the Christ-child is born in my heart, if his life is lived out through my own, it allows others to see the hope of salvation, and to desire the promises for themselves.

Jeremiah places his hope in God’s character, we should do likewise. We should remember that God is always and forever a God of love and compassion. Jeremiah says that his compassions (note the plural) never fail. It was his love and compassion that motivated him to make the promises through the prophets, and his faithfulness to fulfill them in the gift of his precious son to us. That is a cause for great hope this season, and every season.