Ingredients for Hope

We hover in the space between hard living and death. We also enter into others’ pain. This space often feels uncomfortable, empty, heavy. We use our words to short-circuit the tension and try to get us and others out. So often we attempt to fall out of the story that we are in. The unrest, hunger, or disappointment feels too strong. 

But, this space is sacred, and it holds the ingredients for hope. 

We once again approach the time of year bursting with the word ‘hope’ during this Advent season. We sing it, we say it, we read it, but we often don’t feel it because we often forget the birthplace of hope. 

Born in a stable, unrecognized, and alone. In the darkness and fear, was the birthplace of hope. Jesus is this hope for the world. John 1:1-5 describes him entering a grieving world to bring light and hope. A grieving world. Darkness contrasted the light He was. Loneliness contrasted the comfort He brought. Shame contrasted the humility He showed. 

So often I find myself avoiding the ingredients, the circumstances, the undesirable space for that birthplace of hope. I sideline Christ's work so that shame and hurt can sting me unrighteously. I do my best to unrecognize hope. I excuse it. 

But, in the midst of my weakness and fear, Jesus comes in gently. This season is a reminder of just how gentle. And with humility. And tenderness. And how tenderly He shines brightly in the dark spaces of my heart and draws these grim ingredients for hope towards Himself, and away from me.

“There is no redemption that does not pass through pain,”

said Miroslav Volf. This is true of Jesus. He did not bypass pain and sorrow. He went straight to the cross, suffering, being rejected, taking on the sin of the world.

Those dark, uncomfortable, and murky spaces that I know so well, He does too. The shame and hurt, He knows those too. The pain, He knows. Nothing we go through hasn’t already been through Christ. He wept with Martha and Mary before he made God’s glory known (John 11). He weeps with us. He has proven to heal in the midst of pain, and not simply wipe trouble out of our path. This is hope. Henry Nouwen once said,

“The deep truth is that our suffering need not be an obstacle to the joy and the peace we desire, but can become the means to it.”  

Our hope is real. Jesus heads straight into the darkness to shine light. With Christ, and through Christ, we experience hope. What a gift.