We talk a lot about hope.

We hope the weather will be good for the big outdoor event we’ve planned. We hope our favorite team will win the Super Bowl—or at least make it to the big game! We hope we get just what we want for Christmas.

But for many of us, hope lacks a sense of certainty. It is more like a wish—something that we want to happen but have no way of knowing that it ultimately will. So, we keep our fingers crossed and “hope” that everything will go the way we want it to. The reality is that often life doesn’t turn out the way we hoped it would. It’s often disappointing. We get discouraged. We can live in despair. We lose hope. We become hopeless.

This was the world Jesus was born into. Isaiah writes that the light that was coming into the world came to a people shrouded in darkness (9:1-7). The people of God were under the oppressive rule of Rome. The nation of Israel was fracturing. The word of God had not been heard for four centuries. And a virgin birth was not a celebrated event in ancient Israel. The people were disappointed. They were living in despair. They had lost hope. Yet, into darkness, true Hope was born. John phrases it this way: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5).

Where do you need hope? Not a fingers-crossed wish that you harbor in your heart, but rather a confident, courageous optimism that is rooted in the certainty of God’s Word? Rejoice that Jesus came to give you something better than the disappointments of life on planet earth. You sing about it, so believe it!

The thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices
For yonder brinks a new and glorious morn
Fall on your knees

(O Holy Night)

 Pin your hopes on Jesus this Christmas – fall on your knees – you won’t be disappointed!