The Dawning of Hope

“I’d rather not celebrate Christmas this year,” the hollow-eyed young woman stared at the snow piled near her feet. “Without my family, I just can’t see any reason to be happy.” One swift moment on an icy road had left her without a husband or children. Sorrow froze her heart but now despair was beginning to crush it.

Her story is only one amidst many this holiday season. We all know someone who is hurting, someone who doesn’t want to celebrate Christ’s birth, someone who no longer has hope.

Yet, Christ came that we might have hope. That precious baby born in a stable and laid in a manger brings the answer to hopelessness: LOVE. Love will restore hope to even a frozen heart.

Jesus is God’s expression of love for all of us. God, through Jesus, gave His love in order that the world may have hope. This Christmas how can we bring hope to the hopeless and show God’s love to our hurting world? Start with just one person. Make contact with that person today and offer a generous portion of God’s love. Watch the dawning of hope begin to melt a frozen heart.

Rom 5:5 (NAS) “Hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

~ Marcia Mitchell
Walla Walla, Washington USA

Dear Lord,

Oh Father, YES ! Help us, as Marcia has encouraged us, to be messengers and ministers of our hope in You! Your love, Your provision, Your grace. Prepare the way before us and let us be Your instruments with credibility, integrity, tenderness and confidence. Let our efforts of "passing hope on" be convincing, uplifting, and winning to others. We're only human vessels, but help us accomplish the task in spite of our flaws. Let Your Grace and Peace shine!

Amen