As we start the Advent season with hope, I think it is helpful to look at another word that is frequently tied to hope: faith. I recently read that faith and hope rely on each other to exist. We must have faith that God’s promises came true when Jesus was born, lived a sinless life, died for our sinfulness, and was resurrected to cover us with his blood and righteousness. Once we have that, even a glimmer of hope can push back the darkest of days. “Faith is grounded in the reality of the past…”*
Let’s take a look at a classic Christmas movie for an example of faith: National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. In this movie, Clark has faith in his boss/company and plans on putting a pool in his backyard. It was to be the big Christmas gift for his family that year. He had faith in his boss/company based on his earlier experiences and promises that had been given and kept. His big mistake was putting his faith in humans. We may be faithful but we are all flawed and will fall short of our promises.
In this movie, you can also see the hope that Clark has for his successful year with the company. Before we dive into that, let’s look at what hope is. Hope is a product of faith. Faith in God and His promises, grounded in the truth of what He has done before, leads to hope. Hope that the promises yet to come true will and that we will get to experience them. “…hope is looking to the reality of the future.”*
Back to Clark and his hope. Because of his faith in his company and the promise of a Christmas bonus, he had hope that his summers would be full of family gatherings by the new pool. This hope led to many “dreams” of what the future would look like. When the Christmas bonus did not happen like he expected, Clark lost his faith and hope in his boss. Then his temper with the family. While in the end, he gets the Christmas bonus he was hoping for, his faith in his boss/company were tarnished. In the future, he will not have the faith that he once had in the company and will not have the same hope for future bonuses.
We can lose our faith and temper with God as well. We know God will provide for us based on how He has always provided for his people in the past. Where the problem comes in is when His provision doesn’t look like what we had hoped for. He provided just as promised, but because it was not in the way we wanted, our faith in God is tested. Yet if we truly have faith in God based on past fulfilled promises, then we should know that His provision rarely looks like what we mere humans can envision and hope for. They won’t always make sense or seem to be the “right” way, and I can’t help you with this struggle. I can only say that because I have faith in God and His ways, I will trust that He knows and sees far more than I ever will. For that reason, I have hope that when I am standing before Him, I may not have the answers but I will know that He was correct in His ways.
So as we begin this Advent season, have faith and hope based on past experiences with God, but don’t limit His method of provision for you. The light that sparks from your faith this season could lead you down a path you never expected or could have hoped for. It may also be just what someone else needs to hope for a future that is full of God’s love and light.
*“Faith is grounded in the reality of the past; hope is looking to the reality of the future.” https://www.gotquestions.org/difference-faith-hope.html
A Faith Journal 