Most everything is packed away by now. There are just a few vestiges of our recent Christmas celebration still evident in my home. There’s a stained glass wreath in a window and also a stained glass candy cane in another window. The candy cane will be replaced with a heart in that window. Time to get ready for the next holiday, right? Decorations that display the words “hope”, “peace”, and “joy” are still in my kitchen windowsill. They will get packed away too BUT – are those words really relegated to just one month of the year? I don’t know about you, but I desire peace and joy and hope every day, not just at Christmas.

The angel who announced Jesus’s birth brought good news of “great joy.” Additionally, the angel proclaimed, “on earth peace and goodwill to men.” Jesus’s birth brought great joy, peace and goodwill, and something else that all mankind had long been without – hope. Jesus’s birth brought hope to the world in the form of a Savior who would pay the price for our sin, offering us mercy and eternal life instead of what our sins deserve. Jesus’s birth brings me hope today, even in the midst of my current circumstances. I have hope because of His promise –

” ‘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)

The gift of hope is a wonderful, life-giving gift that God gave to us when He sent us His Son. Jesus’s birth brought peace, joy and hope into a weary world, a world that was in dire need of all three. But not everyone was ready or willing to receive what Jesus was offering.

“He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him.” (John 1:11)

Must be why today peace, joy and hope are still desperately desired, yet in seemingly short supply – as we continue to reject Jesus, the One whose very Presence brings these gifts of peace, joy and hope with Him, freely given to anyone who will receive Him.

I guess that’s why I still have these three words displayed in my windowsill. I need God’s peace, joy and hope in my life every day, not just at Christmas. Translation – I need my Heavenly Father’s presence abiding with me daily, not just during the season of Advent.

Advent was all about preparing room, preparing space, to let God’s Son have a dwelling place in my heart and in my life. Now that Advent is over, I don’t want to turn around and kick Him out of that space, and with Him the peace, joy and hope that I want in my life. Knowing myself as I do, I would end up replacing those things with lesser things that do not last and do not satisfy.

I think I’ll leave these words in my windowsill awhile longer to remind me that although Advent (the arrival of a very important person – Jesus) is over, the celebration ceased, the decorations packed away – Jesus is still here with me in the after party let down and so are His gifts of peace, joy and hope.

Perhaps that’s what this is all about – this post Advent ponder is just me experiencing post party syndrome. Packing away the last of my decorations makes it real. The celebration is officially over. No more presents to open, no more parties to attend, no more fun foods to eat. After all the busyness and hype of the Christmas season, the realities of everyday life return. BUT – Jesus is still here with me unless of course I choose to pack Him away too, along with my decorations, not giving Him another thought until next year.

However, I want His presence to be permanently with me. And God has promised that He will “never leave me nor forsake me.” I have this hope as I begin another new year – hope, one of God’s best gifts of Advent –

“And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.” (Romans 5:5)

God gave you and me the gift of hope when He sent us His Son, Jesus. You and I received the hope of forgiveness, the hope of reconciliation, the hope of eternal life with our Heavenly Father. Hope – best gift ever! Hang onto it!

“but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” (Isaiah 40:31)

sincerely, Grace Day