Today’s devotional is offered by Mary Kathryn Washington
December 6, 2018

Though the fig tree does not blossom,
and no fruit is on the vines;
though the produce of the olive fails
and the fields yield no food;
though the flock is cut off from the fold
and there is no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will exult in the God of my salvation.
God, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
and makes me tread upon the heights.
– Habakkuk 3.17-19

This year I have had a difficult time deciding what to write about for this devotional.
Since we begin this Advent season with a focus on hope, I stumbled upon the deep hope the prophet Habakkuk yearned for when he questioned God on why there was so much violence and corruption (as an aside…I embarrassingly didn’t realize Habakkuk had a book in the Bible until recently).

I thought about 1st Corinthians 13:12-13 that discusses faith, hope, and love:
For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.

However, at this year’s Hanging of the Greens service, while Cindy Joy and Haven Parrott played the “Lords Prayer”, with the candle flame radiating on my face, and the Chrismon tree shining brightly in front of me, I closed my eyes and felt the hope—The expectation and desire of something to happen. I felt the hope of what heaven will be like without worries while we are covered in peace. I felt the assurance of God’s presence and it was filled with hope.

These days, the world can throw so many curveballs our way, evil people still exist, and new diseases are discovered daily. In the midst of all of this, we must always remember the hope that comes from God; the confident expectation that God is with us will still be with us and will lead us home.

“…for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.”