From the YouVersion Bible App, “Advent, A 25 Day Countdown to Christmas, Day 3”

Hope When Things Go Wrong in the World

Yesterday, we said hope is the wholehearted, evidence-based conviction that God is making the future better than the past or present.

But what about when all the evidence this Christmas tells you the future might only bring more pain? When forces outside of your control, like war, the economy, and sickness, cause chaos all over the world.

If you’re asking this question, you’re not alone. Around 500 years before Jesus, the people of God were invaded, captured, and forcibly deported to a faraway nation. They were separated from their families, homes, and, for many, their hope.

Their forced migration is called the exile, and its trauma influenced countless Scriptures.

Today, you’ll read a lament (a pain-filled song of praise) by a few of these people. These exiles were musicians, but after their capture, they were taken as servants or slaves to work at a farm in a nation called Babylon. Their captors asked them to play the music of their people, and they responded with despair, saying something like, “How could we sing songs of hope and praise to God when we’ve experienced so much pain?”

Global events outside their control made hope feel impossible. Can you relate?

When things go wrong in the world, it feels like evidence that God is against us, ignoring us, or He’s left us behind. But this couldn’t be further from the truth. Throughout their time in Babylon, the people of God not only survived, but learned to thrive. They discovered God was present in their pain, and God still had a plan for their future.

In fact, one of the most famous Bible verses (Jeremiah 29:11) is about God’s plan for His people in exile. In that verse, He promises to give them hope and a future. And God delivered on His promise.

Your pain isn’t evidence God doesn’t care or is far off. It’s evidence that God is still working on His plan to make all things new.

True hope doesn’t ignore the pain of life. Instead, it trusts God’s plan despite the worst life has to offer.

Yes, it’s a slow process. And it’s normal to get frustrated with God’s timing. But when we look at the experience of the exile, we see the evidence of God’s faithfulness in the middle of pain and in the fulfillment of His promises.

Pause and Pray:

Lord, thank You that even in the darkest of times, You are working for good. Help me to have hope even when things are hard in my life. Help me to share the hope I have in You with those around me. Thank You for sending Your Son, Jesus. Amen.

My Thoughts

My heart is not heavy today, but it has been in the past. I want to know what God is doing to bring the suffering in the world to an end. I want things to get better, but they seem to get worse instead. I know the Bible says that these are signs of the times, but sometimes I am just ready to stop being a foreigner in a strange land and be home with the Lord where I belong.

God’s Word to me is to be patient and wait. He is working out His plan for me, just as He did for the Israelites who were exiled in Babylon for decades. He didn’t say to them, “Well, you sinned, so I am just going to leave you to suffer through your consequences.” He never stepped away from watching over them and keeping His promises to them, and He hasn’t left us either. God is the One who is working on His plan, not my plan or your plan, but His plan. He sees the big picture, and He continues to methodically work with fallen man to work out His plan for the end of the age.

So, while I may be impatient with things as they are, I can be thankful that God is patient. How many would be lost already if He were not patient with all of us? I just read a Christian book about human trafficking that absolutely broke my heart. It’s fiction but it could have been ripped from headlines. The story of a group of girls stolen from their village in Peru and sold to men to be used, abused and discarded was hard to read but it also had a message of hope and faith. It is undergirded with the message of the Prodigal and the Lost Sheep. We have all been prodigals at one time, and we have all be a lost sheep. God sees and He cares about all of the cruelty and injustice in the world. There is no one who loves more deeply than our Heavenly Father.

This is one of the songs that I have requested be played at my funeral. Yes, I am one of those controlling people who plans in advance, but not for control but rather for the comfort of my family so that they don’t have to worry about details. When I heard this on the radio years ago, it spoke to my heart because of all of our military moves and the fact that I have never really felt settled into a home or community. When I arrive to my eternal home, then I will truly know what home is like and I am looking forward to that day. Until then, I will wait, just as God is waiting, patiently working out His plan and hoping that I am helping in some small way to help Him fulfill it.

Where I Belong-Building 429