For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. – Isaiah 9:6

Christmas is a magical time of year. I have even heard people who don’t celebrate Christmas say how much they enjoy the Christmas season. The music, the lights, the decorations, and even the gifts seem to add to the aura. But it’s something so much more. There is a feeling of hope in the air. Throughout the first eleven months of the year, life can be hard. We each have to cross different mountains in our lives. Sometimes just getting out of bed in the morning can be a challenge. Then we reach the month of December and life feels a little bit lighter somehow. The world has hope in a baby named Jesus.

Prior to Jesus’ birth, there was a prophet named Isaiah who spoke about Jesus. The verse above is just one of many in which he foretold that a Savior would come to save us all. You might be familiar with this verse, as we often hear it recited around Christmastime. However, the interesting thing is that Isaiah prophesied the coming of Jesus approximately seven hundred years prior to Jesus’ birth. Seven hundred years. That’s a long time. That’s a lot of waiting. Did the people give up hope that the Messiah would come? Or did they think maybe there was a mistake? Perhaps Isaiah was wrong? Did God change His mind?

But God made a promise. And God does not change (Malachi 3:6). So perhaps this waiting period caused some of the people to cling tighter to the Lord. Maybe when the Lord was silent, instead of turning away, they ran towards Him. Perhaps they held onto hope even in the midst of despair.

When I think about the promise of Jesus, and the long span of time that occurred until He finally arrived, it gives me even more hope than ever before. When things in my life don’t go as planned, when I am waiting for something, when God seems silent, or when I am tempted to let dejection get the best of me – I remember the hope of Jesus. Whatever you are going through today, if your dreams have been postponed, if you need a breakthrough – remember Jesus and the hope He brought after a long stretch of silence. When you are waiting, turn towards the Lord and hold onto Him with all your might.

There is always hope. Christmas is one day out of the year when we celebrate the birth of our Savior. But on the remaining 364 days in the year, we still have Jesus, we can still worship our Savior, and we still have hope.

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