Hope is contagious.
I had been caught. I didn’t “want” to do something that was an inconvenience us, to me and my expectations. I was regretting inviting guests to the Christmas morning service.
Instead, I saw our guests be deeply moved by the
Christmas morning
service. A widow and her children who are refugees from a hostile land found the words of Hope. The welcome she receives is an encouragement toward understanding this Hope that is offered freely.
A family still on a journey toward Him…searching for faith and Hope and His Peace.
It was inconvenient to my expectations. I wanted all of our family to sit together. Very inconvenient as it disrupted my expectation of the perfect morning. As it was, my sons ended up on the row behind us. I was afraid my gracious husband would invite them over; taking them to a store or something to take away from our family morning instead of taking them to their apartment. they actually had plans with their landlord’s family.
Yeah, that old nemesis that leads me away from peace, being inconvenience. I had to do an attitude heart check.
Not exactly the reflection of “for God so loved the world…” is it?
Instead, none of those things happened. Instead, eyes were bright; scripture was read and songs were sung. Instead my heart knew the
Hope of Jesus.
The bells handed out chimed together as we sang “Ring the Bells of Christmas!”
First, a few rang their bells and the sound moved across the congregants. It was a lesson in contagion. A lesson in catching.
My heart focus changed as I watched
Hope
be caught.
His love and Hope and peace
that morning right there in that large auditorium. I am still holding on to it.
My tiny self perceived inconvenience was so worth it, for my own heart. I can’t help but believe others are still holding on to His
too.
The impact of that still ripples…
Hope is contagious.
Peace and hope can be caught! It is contagious. Come on, rings those bells again and again. Tell of His
Hope
again and again!
Turns out, it was not an inconvenience after all.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
blessings, linda
Leave a Reply