Hope - Advent Day 3 - Week 1

 Habakkuk 3:16-19

I heard and my heart pounded, my lips quivered at the sound; decay crept into my bones, and my legs trembled. Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us. Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights.

 Habakkuk has had a big impact on me tonight. Have you ever noticed that sometimes you get the most impatient for something right before it actually happens? It's like the long awaited wedding, or baby, or homecoming. The closer it gets the more anxious and ready we are for it to get here. So it is with a move of God in your life. Even when Habakkuk had no external sign that God was working, he knew in his bones that God was moving. Check out that middle verse - even though crops are failing - even though there are no sheep in the pen - I will rejoice. I will wait. I will be joyful. I know I talk about waiting a lot. I think part of the key is in how we wait. 

Are you waiting like Habakkuk was? 

Are you confident that God is moving even with NO evidence? How about joyful? Ya feeling joyful? I think some of us (ME) maybe need to examine our waiting posture. Do not grow fainthearted now. The redemption of the Lord is somewhere just around that next corner. The promise of God may be just moments away from fulfillment. Press on!!
Some of these words are from a Gina about 13 years ago. That's pre-Al... pre J and J... pre house building. It's a Gina who had lots of promises for a future, but very few fulfilled. I said then that life is always about waiting for something. I stand by that even more strongly now.

This week of Advent is about hope. You don't hope for things when you know the future is certain. Hope lives in uncertain, even scary times. That is why Hope 2020 is such a revelation.

Keep hoping my friends. Things do get better. Sun does shine again. You will laugh and love again.
If I can pray for you, please either comment or send me an e-mail. 

Prayer for today
Father,
Please let the person reading this right now feel such a jolt of hope that it takes their breath for a minute. Be the ever-present, God of Hope for them right now. Please help us to be a beacon of hope in a weary world that needs it more now than ever in recent memory.
We love You!
Hope-Filled
-Amen

-Gina