His Light, Our Hope
Christmas pageants are a delight to watch. Little ones act out the story of Christ’s birth dressed as angels, wisemen, shepherds, and various barnyard animals. People gather to sing carols while sipping cider by candlelight. The story of Christmas, after all, is pretty idyllic, right?
Let’s skip past the part where Mary must have been terribly afraid to give birth in a stinky, germ infested stable and lay her sweet newborn baby in a trough from which the animals fed each day, and take note of another detail that many of us tend to skim over without a whole lot of pause. King Herod, in his narcissistic, paranoid state, called for all the male babies in Bethlehem to be killed. He wanted to make sure that there was no newborn king to take over his reign. Mothers had their babies ripped from their arms forever. This, no doubt, is a very dark, tragic detail in the Christmas story.
The reality is, embedded in all of our stories we have dark and tragic details too. Christmas can magnify the ache in our hearts and the longing for all things to be made new. A day meant to be filled with celebration can be one of the most painful. But we have hope. Even though we may feel that the darkness is overwhelming, God assures us that it is not dark to Him. He has night vision! And not the hazy red tones we see in the action movies. No, God sees clearly in the dark for the darkness is as light to Him. (Psalm 139). He is our light and the darkness, no matter how thick and widespread, cannot extinguish it! (John 1).
The Christmas story is a story of light coming into darkness. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it! Grace upon grace! Jesus said that he came into the world as light, so that whoever believes in Him, may not remain in darkness.” (John 1).
Hope is believing that despite all the darkness around us, God is light and the darkness will not overcome Him. Hope is trusting that even though we don’t understand why He allows dark details to enter into our stories, He sees clearly and is not surprised by the darkness, nor is He trying to figure out a ‘Plan B’. God is in control! Hope is the conviction that the darkness is the perfect backdrop to showcase His light in us! (Matthew 5). Hope is having confidence that the darkness in our stories has been and will be overcome!
Do we trust Him with the dark details in our stories? Do we look to Him as our Emmanuel, our Light and Peace with us? He is our light in the darkness, our Guide who directs our steps. Do we trust that He is good even in the darkness? Do we surrender our own ideas of what the details in our stories should be and trust that He knows best and will accomplish His purposes in our lives?
He shines in our darkness, and the darkness will not overcome it! This is a promise we can cling to! This is a promise that gives hope. He is our Light! He is our Hope!
