Hope

“We know that these troubles produce patience.  And patience produces
character, and character produces hope.  And this hope will never disappoint us, because God has poured out his love to fill our hearts.”            Romans 5:3-5

As we close the door on 2019 and begin to put away the Christmas décor, our thoughts turn to a new year.  In our grief we may think it is too difficult to look forward to another year without our loved one.  The new year is filled with a different kind of hope.

Hope is what we look forward to.  We cannot see it or even at times believe that hope is still possible in our lives.  In our grief it is hard to believe that we will get through the deep hurt, struggle and the changes.  In our grief, we have a hope of a hope which comes from our faith.  Faith that was present within us before the grief.  When we are grounded in Jesus, we know hope is possible even in the midst of any struggle of life.   Faith and hope are more than a feeling.  It is believing even when we cannot see or feel it.

Hope is not Christmas magic or a fairy tale type of faith.  Hope does not mean that life will go back to normal.  There is no going back and no normal.  This is the life we each have now. We did not choose the grief and the life we have now, but it is what we have now.  Hope is not finding inner strength and pulling yourself up by yourself.  That is not possible to sustain for very long.

Hope is reaching out in the darkness.  The darkness of sadness, anger, hurt and loneliness.  But still reaching out knowing God is there somewhere in the darkness of our lives and God holds our hand.   God comforts us, sustains us, and sits beside us as we cry and grieve.

Hope is believing even in your sadness and loneliness that God loves you.  Jesus brings light into the darkness of grief.  Jesus does not take away the grief, but brings hope into our grief.  You will grieve the rest of your life for your loved one.  Where there is deep love, there is grief. 

The season of Christmas is a season of hope.  Jesus comes into the darkness of the world and lives to give us hope that this world is not all there is.  When our loved one dies and leaves this world, the coming of Jesus tells us this is not the end but the beginning of a new life in heaven.  The New Year is a time of hope.  How do I live in this new year and honor the life and legacy of my loved one?

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but
have eternal life.”                                John 3:16

 God loves you and me so much that He sent Jesus into the world to be born like us and experience life like we do.  Jesus was born for the purpose of dying for us and giving to us the gift of salvation and the forgiveness of sin.  Jesus conquered death and pain and sorrow and gives us the hope of heaven.

We will see our loved ones again.  That is the hope that is born at Christmas.  Death is not the end, but the beginning of eternal life.  As we prepare for a new year – 2020 – may we have hope.  Hope that you believe you are never alone.  Hope in this different life.  Hope that God is with you and opens new opportunities and places on your path and new friendships and new ways to serve.

Hope.