Expectation Of A Coming Savior!

December 5

Expectation Of A Coming Savior!

During the month of December, I will focus our attention on expectations.  Our expectations can give birth to disappointment and discouragement as well as to renewed hope and joy in the goodness of life and in the promises of the Lord God.  However, God-honoring expectation is not always easy. 

Expectation is difficult when life is difficult. 

About 700 years before the birth of Christ, the southern kingdom of Judah in Israel was experiencing great difficulties.  Even though the political, social, and spiritual center of the kingdom was located in the city of Jerusalem, life was difficult and people were not optimistic.

From outside of the kingdom, Assyria (modern day Iraq) was moving towards Judah with great power and a strategy focused on overthrowing both the northern and southern kingdoms of Israel. 

It was not long until Assyria eventually overthrew the kingdom of Judah.  Fear, pessimism, and a lack of faith in God overshadowed anything that might bring inner peace and real joy and unconditional love.  It was a difficult and desperate time for God’s people.   

Even though the external threat of the Assyrians was dreadful, the greater challenge came from inside the kingdom of Judah.  Judah’s leaders had become corrupt and were continually rebelling against the covenant of the Lord God. 

God’s people in Judah had lost hope and had lost faith.  They had rejected God’s promises, had no courage to dream, and were struggling to expect anything good to happen.  Life was very difficult! 

Expectation is difficult when life is difficult.  

It was in this context just before the Assyrian invasion, that Isaiah was called by the Lord God to be a preacher for the people of Judah.  The Lord asked Isaiah to bring a word of warning about God’s impending judgement if the people did not return to the Lord. 

The people struggled to do what God was asking through the preacher named Isaiah.  Sometimes it is hard to turn to the Lord God when our life is constantly and extraordinarily difficult.

The good news is Isaiah was not deterred; he continued to bring the Word of God to the people of Judah.  Isaiah would preach during the reign of five different kings in Judah.  However, the leaders and the people did not return to the Lord God. 

The history of Judah in the 8^th Century B.C. is a reminder that just because a country has a new leader does not mean things will be any better, any easier, or any more God-honoring.  Each person, each leader, and the entire country must turn from their rebellion against the Lord God so they can return to the Lord God. 

Assyria invades and conquers the kingdom of Judah in 701 B.C.  What had been a very difficult life for 40 years while Isaiah was preaching, now becomes intolerable, agonizing, and dreadful.  The people of God have no faith, no hope, and no expectations! 

Expectation is difficult when life is difficult. 

In the midst of low expectations and difficult circumstances, the Lord God gives a promise through a obedient and persistent preacher.  God’s promise was for a people who were living in an incredibly difficult situation with absolutely no expectation of anything good. 

In Isaiah 7:14 the preacher writes; “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign.  Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son and shall name him Immanuel.”

In the midst of impossibly difficult circumstances with no hope and little faith, the Lord God gave His people a sign.  The sign was a promise that possessed the power to change their situation, change their country, and change their world. 

God’s sign of deliverance and salvation was a young pregnant woman.  Their hope was the child she was carrying inside of her.  The promise was a baby who would be a son called, “Immanuel.” 

The name “Immanuel” means “God with us.”  When our situation is so difficult we no longer expect anything good to happen or no longer expect God to help, the Lord God gives us signs that He is still with us. 

For those who find it difficult to be filled with expectation this Christmas season, I see three promises.

First, the Lord will give you signs that His promises are true and His presence is undeniable.  Even when we have rebelled against God, the Lord still reaches out to us and desires to be with us.

Second, the sign God gives us may be a thing or may be a word or may be something beautiful in creation.  However, there are often times when God’s sign for you and me is another person.  For Judah, the sign of a coming Savior was a young pregnant woman.

Third, that which restores hope, renews faith, and renovates our expectations is the promise of God’s presence.  Expectations come alive when we trust that God is with us (i.e., “Immanuel”) to protect, provide, and propel us into God’s dream for our life and our world.

Someone you know is living in an incredibly difficult situation right now.  Maybe their faith in Jesus is wavering or they have totally rejected Jesus.  Maybe their expectations and dreams and hopes have been shattered.  Maybe they can’t see a way out, a way up, or a way forward.

I invite you to sit with them over a cup of coffee, a simple lunch, or a conversation at your home.  Take an opportunity to remind them that our hope and our faith and our dreams flow out of our relationship with Jesus.  Encourage them to return to Jesus and trust that Jesus is with them in every moment to love them, deliver them, and save them.  Share with them the promise of a coming Savior.

When they begin to trust God is with them even in this difficult time, their heart will begin to fill with more and more delight.  When that happens, your heart will fill with delight, too!

Take Delight In The Lord!

Doug