Stolen Hope
Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. Psalm 46:5 (NIV)
From Arnot to Wellsboro, I pass a church and on the bank beside the parking lot is a rectangular box with the word HOPE on the ground. Every time I see it, I smile. Emily Ryan (Mornings with Jesus) shares a message about a thief who stole her hope. It’s a good one!
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“Our HOPE sign is gone!” my husband exclaimed with a furrowed brow. “It was there when I left for work this morning and now it’s not. You didn’t move it, did you?”
“That can’t be,” I muttered and went outside. Sure enough, our Christmas decorations were missing. I stood with my mouth agape, remembering how the red, glittery letters had sparkled in the spotlight, proclaiming HOPE to the entire neighborhood. Now the spotlight merely illuminated the emptiness, mocking our Christmas cheer with Grinch-like pleasure. “Who would steal our hope?”
Even as the words spilled out of my mouth, the irony of the situation fell on me like a suffocating layer of fresh snow. Our barren yard mirrored my soul, once full of optimism. Over the last several months, the enemy had indeed tried to steal bits of my inner hope. Now, as if to kick me when I was down, even my superficial hope, once festive and shiny in the hard winter ground, had been taken by thieves in the night.
Later, we returned to the store where we had bought our outdoor Christmas decorations and came home with a white wooden nativity that we placed in the yard where HOPE once stood. I smiled. Someone may have stolen my hope, but now I clearly had what Christmas was all about. Our spotlight illuminated Jesus.
FAITH STEP: What can you do in your home or yard to focus on Jesus? Use your Christmas decorations to draw attention to Him.
Loving Father, thank You for the hope that You graciously place in our hearts. During this season, help us not let anyone steal our true hope in You. AMEN.