Listen

If only you would tear open the heavens and come down! Mountains would quake before you like fire igniting brushwood or making water boil. If you would make your name known to your enemies, the nations would tremble in your presence.

When you accomplished wonders beyond all our expectations; when you came down, mountains quaked before you.

Isaiah 64:1-3

Think

We light the candle of hope on the first Sunday of Advent each year, but when we read these few verses from Isaiah hope may not be the first thing that comes to mind. This passage is part of a longer communal lament wondering where God is and why God is choosing not to intervene with swift, decisive action like the Israelites had witnessed in the past.

At the end of another year that has been filled with war, uncertainty, and our own personal struggles, we may find ourselves hoping for God to intervene much like the writer describes here – tearing open the heavens and coming down to set things right.

May this lament remind us of the times that we, too, have felt God’s presence, alive and active in our world. And may that remembering fill us with hope for a future where God breaks in once more to make us and our world whole.

Kelly Adams

Question to Ponder:

When is a time that you remember God’s unmistakable presence in your life? How does remembering help spark your hope for the future?

Pray

God of hope, help me to remember that you never leave me alone, even when I cannot see how you are acting in the world.

I remember the times you have acted to bring about transformation in my life.

Grant me hope for a future that looks more like your dream for creation.

Amen.

Go

Go now, confident that God is acting, full of hope for a world transformed by peace, love, and joy.

Share a smile, an encouraging word, or a gesture of kindness that shows your hope in action.