There is HOPE this Christmas!

If there is anything we need during this crazy year it’s HOPE.  I wrote this post on my blog back in 2011, and it really gained a lot of traffic.  I’ve never been into how many people read my posts, but what I found out was that so many were googling “hope” and landing on my blog post.  I thought that I would share it here with Diana’s readers today.  I hope that it will encourage you or someone you know.  Thank you for your prayers for Diana.  She really appreciates them!

Hope is that thing with feathers that perches in the soul and sings the tune without the words and never stops… at all. ~Emily Dickinson

Christmas is a season full of hope and wonder. It is a time filled with light and overwhelming joy. On Christmas, we celebrate the hope that was wrapped up in a newborn babe, laying in a manger, in a stable. His birth was one of simplicity and humility, yet all of heaven rejoiced at His sight. Wise Men came from afar to behold and adore Him, and bestow upon him costly gifts.

This is a season for celebration. Our homes are decorated and lights are strung inside and out for all to see. Gifts are wrapped and placed beneath our trees, and stockings are overflowing with small tokens of His goodness. Together, as families and friends, we share a common bond in the hope that Christmas brings.

But this year, things are different.  In many states, as in mine, we are told we cannot gather with family and friends.  Many have decided to scale down their decorations and do things more simply.  We are spending less money as many have lost their jobs due to this pandemic.

What about those who have lost sight of hope?

What about that child who said goodbye to a parent this year?

Or the mother who never held the life that was welling up inside of her?

What about the teenager who gave up before hope was realized in his life?

What about the couple who felt all hope was lost and walked away?

What about the son who lost his life giving hope to others?

What about the orphan thousands of miles away who never felt the touch of a mother’s love?

What about the father, out of work, struggling to provide?

Do they know that He came to bring hope?

Have they yet encountered His love?

Do they understand that He is with them in this hard season?

Do they believe that He will never leave them nor forsake them?

Do they know that He hears the cry of their heart and holds their tears in a bottle?

Do you, my friend, know that you can bring hope to someone who is hurting this Christmas season?

Hope was planted as a seed in our hearts by the giver of life. It was watered by the Word, which became flesh and dwelt among us. Hope birthed in a child born in a lowly stable. Did anyone know then the hope that was wrapped up in that babe? I believe that if the animals could have spoken, they would have declared “glory in the highest” right along with the angelic hosts.

It’s easy to bring hope to others. This hope birthed in your heart, watered by the Word. It is seasoned and grows with love through a warm smile, a soft touch, a listening ear. It’s not hard, this giving of hope. It’s welling up on the inside. Hope was born to be given away. A free gift to those who are hurting this Christmas.

This is my hope for Christmas. That I would bring the hope of Jesus into the lives of others.

I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13)

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Barbie is a wife, mom, nana and sometimes writer how hopes to begin sharing her heart again with readers in the New Year.  When not at work at her Office Manager position for a small CPA firm, you will find her curled up on the couch with her pup, a cup of coffee or cocoa and a book or movie.  You can visit her blog over at barbieswihart.com.  Thank you for reading.