When all I thought was sacred was shattered in the fallout

And my feet of clay the weight can no longer carry

When love is not a feeling

And HOPE feels like a cop-out

The ground beneath my feet a sudden shift and I’m buried

And all my heart

And all my soul

All my faith to pieces fall as we go

And I’ll sing of your glory now

I’ll sing of your glory now

I’ll sing of your glory now and forever

-Bebo Norman, “Sing of Your Glory”

I love this song. But probably not for the reason you might suspect. I love this song because it speaks of the other side of hope.

The side that we don’t like to talk about out loud. The side that hides in the back our mind with all of our other deep dark fears and secrets. It speaks truth to the unspoken words that we carry every day. What if our hope is for nothing? What if our pain and suffering lead to nowhere? What then of our faith? What then of the hope that we cling to at the end of another long week?

As we near the end of the year and rush through another Christmas, I can’t help but to think good riddance to 2016. Our faith has been tested our hope has waned and on the whole our year has been pretty good.

So what is the problem? Sometimes you just wear thin. Sometimes all the hoping is tiring and the waiting can blind you from the daily goodness in your life. To follow brokenness with thankfulness and praise can be a tall order.

Does your hope ever feel like a cop-our? Does your heart ever not feel love? Of course it does. As we remind ourselves that this Christmas season is not about stuff, but about the birth of a savior that would die on a cross, remember that same savior prayed to his father to take his cup.

Hope onward and onward until your joy is complete. However, that is challenging when our hope is not complete until we have given it to the glory of a baby in a manger.