One of the words that gets thrown around a lot at Christmas is "hope."

This is not the same as hoping that you don't get socks again for Christmas this year.
Or hoping that Australia wins the ashes.
Or even hoping that you'll stick to your New Year's resolutions.

It's more than wishes, guesses, wants or dreams.

No this hope is in a person.
And this hope is sure.

Photo by Alexander Lam on Unsplash

The nation of Israel was longing for a deliverer, a conqueror, a redeemer. [Luke 24:20-21]
But they didn't expect a humble birth.
They didn't expect a criminal's cross.
They didn't expect a triumphant resurrection.

In fact, they almost missed the whole thing.

Steve Ballmer (former CEO of Microsoft) is famous for a balls-up of epic proportions.
In 2007 he said, "there's no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance."
In Australia, the iPhone holds more than a third of the market.
Microsoft? Less than 1%.

Now maybe Microsoft were hoping that Apple would fail.
Or maybe, they missed the point completely.
The world was changing and they put their hope in what they thought was solid, but turned out to be shifting sand.

Well back to Jesus...
he isn't what we were expecting,
but he is what we're hoping for.

So don't miss it, don't hope in anything else.
Because amongst the chaos, he is unchanging.
Amongst the lies, he is true.
Amongst the instability, he is immovable.
Amongst the uncertainty, he is sure.