More From Rosalind Smith

How long, LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, “Violence!” but you do not save?

— Habakkuk 1:2 (NIV)

Two years ago when I wrote my meditation, “Resurrection Hope,” we were just a few months into the COVID-19 pandemic and hadn’t yet experienced its full impact. Since then, many more people have died or become incapacitated by long COVID, whilst others have experienced pain, loss, and difficulty as a result of lockdowns, economic insecurity, floods, winds, drought, and war. Everywhere in the world is touched by pain and sadness. Here in Romania, a country right next door to Ukraine, I have been well aware of the impact of the Russian invasion on the lives of ordinary people.

In the face of such events, I think it’s easy to lose sight of God’s promises. Certainly during my long years of illness, there were times when I couldn’t help but cry out with Habakkuk, “How long, Lord?” Feeling unable to endure the pain and loss any longer, I yearned for release. Sometimes the world felt like a very bleak place.

However, throughout those years it was the hope embodied in Jesus’ resurrection that rekindled my joy and brought strength and healing to me in body, mind, and spirit over and over again. That same hope has remained as the bedrock of my faith ever since. With the coming of Jesus into our world, everything changed. His resurrection marked the beginning of a process of transformation that will eventually give birth to a new world. We don’t yet live in that new world, but the process of transformation is something that I see being worked out daily—in the refugees who have been given the opportunity to start a new life here, in the people who have stayed behind or traveled into Ukraine to offer hope and support, in those struggling with pain and loss, and in those praying with and for them. In all of these folk and in all of these situations, I continue to see beauty and joy spring from the ashes of darkness and despair as God continues to work out God’s promises in our world. We haven’t yet seen the complete fulfillment of those promises, but we are on the way!

So as Christmas approaches and we celebrate Jesus coming into our world, may we know the fullness of his blessing. May his light shine in and through our lives, bringing renewed joy and hope that overflows into the lives of those around us.