“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” – Hebrews 11:1
How many times have I told you not to…!? You fill in the blank.
How often do you raise your voice?
As an adult, I try not to raise my voice very often. At times, it is necessary to get my classroom full of students to hear me, or to get the attention of one of my young kids at home. It’s only natural, you speak to a person in a normal tone, and if there is no response, you may raise your voice to get their attention. If you do not feel that you are being heard, you may even shout. This is also true of children. I have been known to only be able to focus on one thing at a time so, at times, my children may have to shout to get my attention.
I often wonder if God feels the same way. Our Heavenly Father has a perfect will, yet we tend to be too oblivious, or we ignore it all together. In fact, in His Word, he makes it perfectly clear how we are to live our life. He gives us examples of what not to do via the Ten Commandments along with plenty of parables containing bad examples. If that isn’t enough, he also gives us a literal list of qualities for us to strive for through the fruit of the Spirit. How often do you fail to accomplish some (Or even all) of those? I can just imagine God, watching us mess up time and time again, shouting “How many times do I have to tell you not to do that?!”
However, even though we constantly sin and ignore God’s Law, we get the wonderful news of our deliverance from sin throughout this Advent season. Our Savior has been born, and throughout these next four weeks, it is time to prepare our hearts for him in repentance. As Christmas decorations go up in our homes and around our communities, they serve as a reminder of the hope that we have in Jesus.
A good illustration of our redemption can actually be found in the beloved Holiday classic, The Grinch. As I have been reading through this book with my daughter time and time again, along with watching the film, I see a bit of myself in the Grinch. In the 2018 movie, after the Grinch returns all the Christmas items back to Who-ville, he retreats, likely relieved at the apparent mercy that the villagers showed him and clearly inspired by the lack of materialism. However, it didn’t stop there. Later on, the Grinch is visited by Cindy, one of the Whos that he had hurt with his actions. She had every right to be furious with him, but yet she wasn’t. In fact, she invites HIM to Christmas dinner with her family. He arrives to warm greetings from everyone, as if the events of the night before never even happened.
This is our hope: that the Lord brings us back to Him in repentance and shows us His grace and mercy. He brings us to His feast through His Sacraments and will eventually welcome us to His eternal feast in Heaven. Thanks be to God that we have the assurance of this each and every day! May God help us to use our actions and voices to shout this hope to all those around us!
Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank You for bringing me into another day in your Creation, and into another Advent season. Please allow me to prepare my heart to celebrate Jesus’ incarnation on this earth, and help me to shout my hope for all around me to hear. In Jesus’ holy and blessed name, Amen.
Journal Questions
- What is one action that you can take today to shout your hope to someone else?
- What is one way that you can show grace and/or mercy today?
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