Advent Hope

As we prayerfully meditate on Holy Spirit-inspired hope in this first week of Advent, consider these lines from Alexander Pope's 1733 poem "An Essay on Man":

Hope springs eternal in the human breast:
Man never is, but always to be blest:
The soul, uneasy and confin'd from home,
Rests and expatiates in a life to come.

While the line "hope springs eternal" today sometimes accompanies an eye-roll or a defeated shrug, Pope's intent was genuine: Even when the trials of life are overwhelming, people of faith carry an internal press into something greater than the earthly worries that surround them.

Hear these words from Romans 15:13:

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Remember that a secular understanding of hope can be misleading. Earthly hope is unmoored, centered on things that are tangible and fleeting -- and utterly dependent on our circumstances. Biblical hope, as Paul reminds the Romans, is a grounded expectancy, a faith-filled confidence, a peace-filled joy, a God-inspired eternal lens.

How is your hope today? What do you place your hope in? How do you define hope in your life, and what can you do to ensure that those around you are hope-filled as well? As you hear the bustle of Christmas in the stores and streets this week, consider how you might bring the hope of Christ to those around you -- overflowing with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Blessings on your week,

Jennie