finding hope in the midst of darkness...

advent.

an anxious anticipation for something or someone.

i have been anxiously waiting for and praying over a situation in my life for a long time.

and i wait and pray.

sometimes i catch a glimpse of His glory. 

other times i am blinded by the darkness.

all around us people are hurting.

there are marriages crumbling and family ailing and finances dwindling.

there are dreams lost and hopes deferred.

muck like the people in the old testament, we need something to come and give us some hope. something tangible to know we are not alone in the hustle and bustle of life.  

something to cling to in the midst of this broken life.

an olive branch of sorts to bring peace and healing to hurting, bleeding hearts.

a shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;    from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.2 the Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—    the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,     the Spirit of counsel and of might,
    the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—... in that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious.isaiah 11:1-2, 10

i don't know about you, but i have spent the better portion of the past few months feeling like a rotting, dying stump.

i have allowed situations and circumstances to make me feel cut off; withered away and hopeless.

no matter how hard i have tried to purpose my heart to feel hopeful, it doesn't work.

when i hung the first ornament on the tree, i realized my efforts will not make me feel anything.  my eyes were still fixed on the circumstances and not on the One who came to bring me a hope and a future.

hope is not found in another situation. 

no the secret is Christ in me, not me in a different set of circumstances.  

there is a hope that burns within my heart.

an advent for what has and is to come.

an anxious anticipation for someOne.

yes, someOne.

hope unfurls.
even in difficult circumstances.

may you grab hold of the shoot of hope that springs forth from the stump this season.
for it is the branch that brings Life.