Excerpted from Devotions for Advent

Advent is a time of hope; the spirit of eager anticipation pervades the senses… But when tragedy, depression, or loneliness steals your joy, you can almost resent the hope that others have.

When we think our hope unfulfilled, we adjust our expectations. We take on new causes, reconsider our optimism, or sometimes become leery of new endeavors. We can even become angry with God, feeling desolate or abandoned. But even if we lose our hope in God, he will never give up on us.

God doesn’t share our limited perspective, and that is one of the reasons that the hope of Advent isn’t dependent on how we are feeling. It can be comforting to rely on the one who gives us hope, even when the light of that hope doesn’t seem to penetrate our temporary darkness.

“Comfort, comfort my people,” says your God. —Isaiah 40:1

“Christianity has always been the hope of God through Jesus played out in the lives of real people living in real circumstances.” —Doug Plagitt

Hold Fast to Hope

Almighty God,
give us such a vision of your purpose
and such an assurance of your love and power,
that we may ever hold fast the hope
which is in Jesus Christ our Lord
who is alive with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God now and for ever.
Amen

—Bosco Peters

For more Advent devotions, visit the Tyndale Online Advent Calendar here.