This is an excerpt from The Foundry’s Hope of all the Earth Advent devotional by David Gilmour.

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Advent is one of the great seasons of the Christian calendar. It is a season when we can look at the brokenness and fallenness of the world around us yet testify boldly and confidently, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5).

Scripture: Luke 2:1–3

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register.

During the first week of Advent, we celebrate hope—and it’s easy for us to see why. Jesus Christ, the hope of all the earth, is born! Jesus is the ultimate expression of the love of God, undeniable proof that we matter, that we’re precious, that we’re important enough for God to become flesh and move into our neighbourhood.

The incarnation is a message of hope directly from God to humanity. God fully embraced our fallenness and fragility, our brokenness and messiness, all so we could be rescued. This is a message of incredible hope! Yet it came at a time that seemed utterly, tragically hopeless. In fact, Luke takes great care to emphasise the hopelessness of the situation. “In those days,” he writes. Those days, when God’s people were once again living in captivity and bondage. Those days, when worship of the one true God was openly mocked by the faith systems of imperial Rome. Those days, when the fate of Abraham’s children was decided by emperors and governors and kings who cared nothing for Yahweh or his people.

Those days had precious little hope, and it only seemed to be getting worse. The census ordered by Caesar Augustus served a number of purposes, none of which would have inspired hope for the Jewish people. It meant more efficient taxes, which would pay for more efficient oppression. The census was a demonstration of Caesar’s power: a single command issued in Rome had repercussions that reached around the known world. And it was a reminder that no one could ever hope to challenge imperial authority.

Yet it was in those days that hope entered the world. It was in those days that the definitive basis for all hope stepped in and began the revolution. And it was in those days that God assured his people that he wasn’t finished, it wasn’t over—in fact, it was only just beginning.

Many of us find ourselves living in those days. It may not be imperial oppression or the dismantling of the faith community—though, for many of our sisters and brothers in Christ around the world, it is exactly those things. For others of us, those days may be days of sickness, of marital trouble, of financial hardship, or so much more. It’s essential that we not compare our suffering with that of others because, whatever those days look like, they can be painful, crippling, even devastating. Those days can take a thousand different forms, but what they all have in common is that they seem to exclude the possibility of hope. Yet we will find, as did the people of God more than two millennia ago, that God does some of his best work in the most hopeless of situations.

However oppressive those days may seem, our God is greater. Those days do not eliminate our hope. 

So we can have a sure and certain hope that it’s not over for us. God is not finished in our situations or our circumstances. He’s not through in his work in us and for us. However oppressive those days may seem, our God is greater. Those days do not eliminate our hope. Instead, they create the perfect conditions for us to lean into the hope of God’s promise to one day heal, redeem, and restore all creation.

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Hope of All the Earth: An Advent Devotional

Journey with your faith community through this devotional book for all ages that offers discussion questions following each reflection as well as a space to journal a prayer each day.  May these words encourage you to walk through this season with expectation, preparing to welcome the Savior who enters even the most hopeless of days with light and life.

Hope of All the Earth is available in discounted packs of 10.

Also available in Spanish!

Esperanza de Todos: Un Devocional de Adviento

Viaje junto con su comunidad de fe a través de este libro devocional para todas las edades que ofrece preguntas para discusión después de cada reflexión además de un espacio para llevar un diario para una oración cada día.