Advent 2020 - week 1 - HOPE

But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord… and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.”

After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden saying, “Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.”

Luke 1:13-15;  24-25  *ESV

~

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when desire is fulfilled, it is a tree of life.

Proverbs 13:12  *Amplified Bible

~

Now may God, the inspiration and fountain of hope, fill you to overflowing with uncontainable joy and perfect peace as you trust in him. And may the power of the Holy Spirit continually surround your life with his super-abundance until you radiate with hope!

Romans 15:13  *Passion Translation 

An angel announces a mystery - prophesying a pregnancy.

Declaring that life will take root in a barren womb.

Speaking fresh hope to an old woman who’s waited a life time for her heart’s desire but has given up.  

Feeling forgotten.  

Missed.  

Overlooked.  

Heart sick.

Hopeless.

After Elizabeth’s husband heard this miraculous announcement from the angel, she hid herself away in seclusion for the next 5 months. 

I wonder why?  

Why didn’t she run about, showing her swelling belly with pride to friends and those who’d seen her disgrace and judged her?  Finally vindicated, finally accepted, finally a mother!  I can totally picture myself doing that. I’d likely be sure everyone knew right away!

But Elizabeth spends more than the first half of her pregnancy alone with the growing gift and the Giver of that gift.  

The Passion Translation reads, “She said with joy, ‘see how kind it is of God to gaze upon me and take away the disgrace of my barrenness!’.”  (This is from the Aramaic text.)

God’s approving gaze became more important to her than the approving gaze of others.  His gaze of kindness healed wounds from years of hurtful gazes by the women in her community looking down on her for her infertility.

For not being enough,

not having enough,

not doing enough.  

For being empty and deficient in what they deemed to hold value.

I’ve personally found that having the gaze of others and their approval has held too high a place of value to me.  It often gets in the way of seeking God’s gaze.  

Do you struggle with this too? 

How did Elizabeth find freedom from this?  

What can we learn from her?

Perhaps in her solitude she learned to become comfortable with God’s gaze upon her and learned to gaze back at Him.  How intimate!  This kind of quiet, alone-with-God time can sometimes feel intimidating or vulnerable.  Maybe at first it did for her too, but Elizabeth stayed there.  She remained in the secret place, and intimacy with God grew even as her baby grew.  

Or maybe for Elizabeth, she’d already learned to spend time in the secret place with God.  Had years of empty arms left her with a little more time to turn her aching heart to God?  

I wonder if here she even paved the way for the Holy Spirit to visit her unborn baby, who the angel had promised would “be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.” 

Even as her body nurtured a tiny baby boy, she spent time with her Father, and He nurtured that tiny seed of hope, which in turn nurtured her very life and likely every aspect of it.

I like to imagine Elizabeth alone with God, going about her daily chores, drawing water, preparing meals, sweeping dusty floors, caring for her silent husband and all the while, unseen things were growing as she pondered God’s promise.  In the depths, in the places that seemed dark, there came movement.  There were changes taking place.  Hope - inspired and planted by God - was swelling and filling empty space, and moving and kicking and laughing and dancing and motivating every movement of her life.  Can you picture the twinkle in her sagging eyes?  The wrinkles were only a facade, as fresh, vibrant HOPE now radiated from her!  

What did people say when she eventually emerged from her seclusion, swelling with true hope and joy?  They must certainly have taken note that not only was the outside different, but something of God was now emanating from within her.  Hope.

Hope will always be an indicator of God’s position, authority and influence in our lives.

God’s gaze upon us and ours turned towards Him, always nourishes life and true hope.  Hope doesn’t have much opportunity to grow in the whirl of preoccupations and distractions.  But in the quiet and in the dark and in the alone, (and even in the times of despair),  God is working, long before we see it or feel it.  

Father, what hopes do You want to nourish in me this Christmas season?

What have I lost hope for that You have not changed Your word on?

What  do you want me to turn my gaze from,

so that it can be turned towards You?

Elizabeth had likely spent her life longing for a child, her waiting womb a reminder of unfulfilled desires.  But now that God’s timing was finally perfect, and she carried a child, she recognized what brought deeper fulfillment!  The face of God, turned towards her and her face turned towards His.  THIS beautiful gift of God’s presence and approval does not need to wait for any promise to be fulfilled.  It is the best fulfillment. And there is One Whose eyes are always upon us, always looking deeply into our hearts, and always approving!  (Read Psalm 139!)

Oh Father, let me see Your face, turned towards me,

gazing at me with love and kindness.  

Let that be enough.  

May that be what captures my heart and satisfies the longings of my soul.  

Your love, Your kindness, Your gaze;  my highest treasure!  

You alone are the One who can fulfill my deepest desires. 

This Christmas season, I am reminded to turn towards You.  

To gaze at You in wonder and joy.  To fill my heart with Your great love.

To seek times of solitude and seclusion with You

where my HOPE can be nurtured

and I will be restored by Your kindness,

and assured of Your approval.

This week, I want to radiate the hope 

that You have promised & planted in me,

bringing glory to You!

May people wonder!