9 Dec 2014 by Adeline Lum CM-
Christmas is a season where people travel across the globe to meet their loved ones. The airport arrival hall would brim with parents eagerly waiting for their children who left home for greener pastures, and grandparents who would be scanning the floor for their favorite munchkins to appear.
Christmas is impregnated with a sense of hope, reconciliation, and celebration. Yet, its winter season also insinuates a state of sterility, hopeless, and stagnation.
On Dec 7, Rev Dr Yu Chee Huat of the Chinese Methodist (Cantonese) Church Kuala Lumpur, Pudu Branch shared how we can find hope in Christ in the midst of our wintry season.
Like Mary who learned that God had placed in her womb Jesus Christ—the Son of God—she knew that nobody would believe her. Her fiancée Joseph would call off the wedding. And her community would stone her to death according to the law.
Mary only saw hopelessness in her situation. She might have wrestled with believing in the impossibility. But the angel of God assured her that nothing is impossible with God. She was told that even her aged relative Elizabeth was pregnant in her sixth month!
So, now we have an unmarried virgin and an aged married woman—both unable to conceive but both got pregnant. Indeed, God does have a sense of humour! Hence, if you are undergoing a hopeless and impossible situation right now, know that nothing is impossible with God.
When Mary entered Elizabeth’s home, the baby leaped in her womb and Elizabeth sang:
“Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” (Luke 1:42-45
Mary was assured that God would do what He promised. And Elizabeth was assured that she would bear a child at old age, with the leaping of the baby in her womb.
In hopelessness and impossibilities, Mary and Elizabeth were literally given a new life. Likewise, when we look up to God, we are given new life too. Do you believe God would do what He says in Scripture when you feel down? Cast all your care at Him because He cares for you. (1 Pet 5:7)
The great thing about being the child of God is that we have hope! Hope is that deep inner security… that knowing God will do what He says against all odds.
Also, like Mary and Elizabeth, we have hope because God has a purpose for every child of His. Mary gave birth to Jesus Christ who saves the whole world with His blood on the cross. And Elizabeth gave birth to John the Baptist to fulfill the prophecy and pave the way for Jesus.
Yes… sometimes, it is hard to see God during our darkest hour. But it is in the darkness that light shines the brightest. Like the shepherds who were guarding their sheep in the pitch darkness of the night, perhaps you are also in your dark hour now. But God says to you, “Do not fret.” It is during this dark hour that a bright star appeared before the shepherds. An angel proclaimed to them about Jesus Christ who would carry in Him the hope of every human being!
In darkness, there is light.
In bad news, there’s good news.
In loneliness, God is with us.
Hence, the hope of a Christmas traveler is to meet his or her loved ones. But the hope of an advent traveler like you and me is to meet Jesus Christ especially during our darkest hour. Look up and look for the star of Bethlehem. We have hope in Christ. He is with us. And He is always leading us.
ABOUT Church:
Address | 362-A, Jalan Gajah, Pudu, 55100 Kuala Lumpur
Worship Service | Sunday | 9 AM (Mandarin / English) | 11:15 AM (English)
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