Unless I Had Believed...

Christmas just came and went, seemingly so quickly! I hope you had a great Christmas with family and friends! Mine was wonderful.

It's comical to me how after Christmas Day is over, people are immediately counting down the days until Christmas of the next year. Speaking of, as of now we have about 362 days and 14 hours until next Christmas.

I wonder why? Maybe it's because Christmas is a time of hope, of celebration, of believing. And quite honestly, our world continues to throw at us reasons not to hope, not to celebrate, not to believe.

I can't help but wonder what the people of God were thinking and feeling before Jesus, the Messiah, their long-awaited Savior, came into the world. For centuries they waited. Centuries! Did they still have hope? Did they find anything to celebrate? Did they still believe the Messiah would still come one day?

I'll be honest, I have a hard time holding onto hope and continuing to believe God will answer a prayer or fulfill His promises after only a few short weeks. I can't imagine being one of the people waiting for the Messiah for years upon years upon years! I'm afraid I would have given up all hope & just started believing that God had forgotten me or was punishing me by leaving me in my miserable state.

The reality is that we're going to believe something. The question is, what do you believe in times that seem hopeless, when you see absolutely nothing good happening, when the world tempts you to quit believing in goodness, to quit believing in God? Do you believe God's promises, or do you believe that nagging voice that speaks against everything Scripture and faith say are true?

One of my favorite Scriptures that I cling to in hard times is Psalm 27:13-14:
"I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD." (NASB)

I can't imagine where I'd be without Jesus in my life and without God's words of truth to give me hope and help me keep believing. And I can't imagine what I'd do without friends who help me keep hoping and believing. These are entirely gifts of God's grace for which I am eternally grateful, and they're available to us all.