“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But desire fulfilled is a tree of life.” (Proverbs 13:12, NASB95)

John Maxwell once said, “Where there is no faith in the future, there is no power in the present.”

Maxwell’s statement about the power of hope is so true in many ways. For example, a town that has no hope will fall into disrepair and devastation. Residents will give up on the town’s future and either abandon it or let it become desolate. Likewise, people that give up their hope for living or healing can develop a condition known as “failure to thrive” and experience rapid decline until death. When hope ebbs away either through the loss of wealth, health, or opportunity, the heart becomes frustrated and sick unless something breaths life back into the heart. How does a person regain hope again? Only when God breathes life into the heart.

God offers hope to a world full of heartsick people through the message of Christmas. This message presents to all the gift of life provided through Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. Anyone who receives this gift is given the assurance of eternal life through Jesus’ birth, death, and resurrection. Think about the angels’ message to the shepherds as they declared God’s promise of hope fulfilled. “But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:10–11, NASB95) These are life-giving words because they give mankind the guaranteed promise of eternal life through Jesus.

The power of hope is found in the fulfilled promises of God through Jesus, the Savior of the world. Is your heart sick? Are you hopeless? God has a gift of hope and life for you if you will receive it. May you experience the power of life-giving hope through Jesus as your Savior when you ask for it.