Advent - Week 2: Hope
“I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits,
And in his word I put my hope
I wait for the Lord
More than watchmen wait for the morning,
More than watchmen wait for the morning.
Israel, put your hope in the Lord,
For with the Lord is unfailing love
And with him is full redemption…
I pray to God – my life a prayer-
And wait for what he’ll say and do.”
-Psalm 130
It feels like we’re in an especially great time of waiting to see what God will do… Like the watchmen waiting for the morning, I often feel like I’m sitting in the darkness, unsure of what the future will hold, personally and as a country. Almost every day there is news of mass gun violence, irreversible climate change, racial prejudices, an increase in those experiencing homelessness…and the list goes on and on. I’m often overwhelmed by this feeling of darkness, like the watchmen longing for morning. My favorite Christmas song line has always been, “The thrill of HOPE, the weary world rejoices, for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn!” We are living in a weary world, just waiting like the watchmen for the morning, to see what God will do.
It’s no wonder that children are afraid of the dark at night. Unable to see what fearful things lie ahead or lurk unseen just outside their windows. As adults, night-time darkness means that things are unknown, our journey ahead unclear. When what we really want is clarity and control, right?
Maybe that’s why I love this imagery of watchmen waiting for the sun to finally rise after a dark night, expelling the darkness with its first rays of light. With this “new and glorious morn,” the sun exposes all for what it truly is- not as scary and hopeless as it appeared when hidden in the dark shadows. Instead, the light brings all things into view and exposes the things that felt non-existent in the midst of the darkness: love, hope, God’s ultimate peace. In the light of the morning we can finally see things clearly, feel the heat of the sun’s rays, and know that, in spite of whatever the darkness brings… we know that God ultimately wins. And, in the meantime, we can live in the warmth of that hope… our “lives a prayer” as we wait to see what God “will say and do.”
- Mandy Neill
The Advance early bird pricing ends on December 7th. Register your network for The Advance THIS WEEK to get the best price. The Advance will be on March 5th & 6th 2019 at Westminster Chapel. Click here to register today!
This is going to be an amazing time of gaining strategic and unified vision for our cities, Joe Castleberry and Jason Davison will be two of our featured speakers and of course we will hear from you!
Reminder: This will work best if you bring a team to represent your local network! Hope to see you there, and please contact Chris at cgough@ugm.org if you have any questions.
