A very sweet friend recently gave me a handmade necklace for
Christmas. It had a pendant with a picture of a songbird, some lovely beads and
a couple of tiny charms—one of a leaf and one that says HOPE. The accompanying card was chock full of
scriptures and encouraging words about the successful completion of our son’s
adoption from Africa. The main theme of the note was her charge for me not to
lose hope.
I wore it all of the next day as I ran errands and carpooled
kids around town. Compliments were made by friends and strangers and my heart was
cheered every time I looked at this thoughtful gift. It wasn’t until I was
getting dressed for bed that I realized one of the charms was missing. That’s
right—I lost HOPE.
Even though I love a good bit of irony, it was a kick in the
shins to my spirit. (That is, if spirits have shins.) You don’t realize how
close to the edge of despair you are until you get a little shove sometimes.
Some days it only takes a light breeze.
Once I picked myself up off the floor, I began to ponder
what hope really means. With the Christmas season in full swing, I can’t help
but think about a night many years ago in Bethlehem and the hope that Christ’s
birth brought to this world. When the angels told the shepherds, “I bring you good news that will cause
great joy for all the people,” it must have been a huge source of
encouragement. These men smelled like sheep and were ruled by an occupying
government. They needed a shot of hope. They went to the stable and saw that the
angel’s words were fulfilled. And then what? They went home and slept and woke
up to another day of sheep herding. Jesus didn’t start his ministry for thirty
years. Chances are, He didn’t even begin healing and preaching during the
shepherds’ lifetimes.
So how was this
hope?
I can see now
that I confused “hope” with “happiness.” Hope is a perpetually-filling
reservoir and happiness is a fleeting rain shower. Hope is seeing God’s majesty
to create anticipation for greater things and happiness is the majesty of one
moment that doesn’t usually live up to the hype. Hope can be a long wait, but
it will be worth it.
Some part of the
shepherds’ spirit must have known that night was unlike any other. (I’m
guessing the chorus of heavenly beings probably tipped them off.) Even if they
never saw the culmination of that miraculous birth, they were able to die with
the taste of promising hope on their lips. That’s a gift…if you can hold on to
it.
A few days after
I lost the charm on my necklace, I was sitting in the carline and talking to a
friend on my phone. I was asking her if I could borrow some items for our
church’s Christmas play. My list was full of props like gold, frankincense, and
myrrh. (God works in mysterious ways…) As I was talking, I looked down in the
floorboard in the narrow space by the console. I saw something glinting in the
afternoon light. Yep, you guessed it…I found HOPE. I had to stop mid-sentence
to collect myself. I hadn’t even tried to find the charm because I had assumed
it was lost in one of the many places I had visited that day. But here it was, patiently
waiting for me to pick it up and marvel at it. I carefully slipped it into the
change part of my wallet so I could re-connect it to my necklace later. Now that I think about it, I may just leave it in my wallet. HOPE is that precious to me this
year!
