The Intersection of Hope & Fear

I love Christmas music; always have. It is not uncommon for me to pull out some of my favorite recordings even in the middle of the summer when it is time for me to begin thinking about planning for Advent and Christmas. Nothing quite gets me in the mood like my favorite Christmas carols and songs. But something happened a couple weeks ago that caught me off guard.

I was driving home from a church function right after Thanksgiving. Just before I got to the house, one of my all-time favorite Christmas songs, O Little Town Of Bethlehem, began playing. When I pulled into the garage, I sat back and allowed the words to waft into my heart like the aroma of fresh coffee first thing in the morning. As I listened, one line in particular gave a jolt I was not expecting.

There is a line in the song that goes, “The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.” Hopes and fears; quite an interesting dichotomy, isn’t it? There is very little that separates a hope and a fear. They both live in the future and are shrouded by uncertainty. We all hope for something, but all too often fear creeps in. The “what ifs?” of life seem almost deafening compared to our dreams. Success vs. failure; blessings vs. breakdowns; determination vs. disappointment; when all we want is to succeed. In the baby Jesus, God meets us at the intersection of hope and fear and empowers us to go His direction. Also, in the baby Jesus, we find hope because we find love—a perfect love! And as the good book tells us, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear…” (1 John 4.18)

Secondly, when the song says “of all the years,” it can only mean eternity. From the fall of Adam and Eve, God set a plan in motion to break the power of sin and redeem His beloved children. That plan was none other than Jesus lying in his manger bed to one day lead the way to God and eternal life. All of our hopes for a promising future and our fears of dread for a dead-end future collided in the coos of a little boy.

The prophet Jeremiah records the words of God as telling His lost and hopeless people, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” (Jeremiah 29.11, NIV, emphasis mine) It has always been God’s plan to give us hope and a future, but our own fear of failure clouds our vision.

It was certainly a moment that has given me renewed vigor and vision for this Advent and upcoming Christmas season. I hope that as you see the sights and hear the music of Christmas, you will see the tiny face, hands, and toes of the little Christ child born to set us free. We all hope for a better tomorrow and often fear the worst. But Jesus is God’s gift of love…a great and wonderful gift.

So this Christmas above all others, may you find in the manger and in your heart God’s gift and promise for hope and a future, knowing love drives out fear! Just as He did on that very first Christmas, God has come to stand at the intersection of our hopes and fears to show us the way, the truth, and the life…His way! So as we get ever closer to this Christmas, may you be blessed by His gift of love and find Him again, right in the middle of your (new) life!