Hope Restored
400 years of silence. 400 years of hopelessness and the feeling of being abandoned. No prophets were speaking and all felt dark. Approximately ten generations had been born and died between the time of Malachi and the birth of John the Baptist. I’ve wondered why God took so very long to speak; why He waited so long to send Jesus. So I began studying this time period and found that actually God was speaking. Several prophecies were fulfilled during this time. The Jews had returned to Israel from Babylonian captivity, just as God said they would, the temple had been rebuilt. Both the Law and the priesthood of Aaron had been restored and the Jews had given up their worship of idols. But more importantly, God gave His beloved people a promise of restoration.
Fostering a relationship with God, in many ways, has the same principles of any relationship. Like me, I just assumed that God was angry with His people and left them to sort out their lives for hundreds of years before stepping in. But nothing could be further from the truth. Isn’t it like that for us in our earthly relationships as well? Even for the people you love the most, sometimes we assume the worst of them. I know I’ve been guilty of this.
As I studied, I realized that God gave them everything that they would need to succeed as He prepared the way for the promised Messiah. Freedom from their enemies, order for their lives in the form of the Law and a place to worship Him, their only source, and priests who would intercede for them. They, like us, may have felt abandoned but He was always right where they needed Him.
Of course now that Jesus has come, we no longer need the systems of this world or anyone to intercede for us because Jesus is all that we will ever need. But during those seemingly silent years, it is a reminder that He never leaves us.
I often look back over my journal entries and read things that I wrote over the years. I can feel the desperation and be transported back to the place I was and the situation I was in as I read over some of these entries. “Why, Father?” “When, Father?” “How long, Father.” “Do You not care, Father?”
Dear reader, have you felt like that before? I don’t think I know anyone who hasn’t, honestly. I believe we’ve all felt abandoned and hurt by our loved ones and friends but nothing causes more pain than the thought of God abandoning us or that He fails to hear our desperate cries in the night. Because of the intimate relationship that so many of us have with our Father, it is painful to think that He has somehow turned His back on us.
Honestly, I’m in a situation as I write this blog where things aren’t quite as I expected them to be and the temptation is to believe that He has abandoned me to figure it out on my own. But if I default to this feeling, I will never know this abundant life that He promised me.
It’s easy to see why the Israelites felt abandoned. Generation after generation passed and no Messiah came, even though God gave them everything they needed to believe and to hope in His coming. But if we look closely, we see that prophesies about Greece rising to power and Rome defeating them came to pass during this time as was predicted by Daniel. And so it is for us. There are events, completely out of our control, happening around us that will put things in place for our hope to be seen. How this all works is definitely beyond my pay grade, but I’ve seen it countless times in my life. I’ll look back after a pretty troubling time and see what was going on behind the scenes. Meeting someone new that opened up an opportunity that met the need I had. A job that ended that I thought was the end of me financially but was the catalyst to a new adventure. I could give you dozens of examples but trust me when I say that each time this has happened, it is a reminder that God never leaves us abandoned. Just when you think all hope is lost, He restores it in a powerful way.
If you’re in a place where it feels like there has been 400 years of silence, be reminded that is always right here, working on your behalf. Instead of leaning towards the wrong beliefs, declare that God has never left you before and that He never will! Speak His Word to your situation, reminding yourself of His goodness and that what He promises, He will fulfill!
May the wonder of Christmas remind you that it’s so much more than presents and parties. The story of Christmas began with a promise. A promise of hope and restoration! Let your hope be restored today, dear reader. Even when it’s totally dark, salvation is on His way!
