Advent Devotionals 2025

Hope is a significant part of my life. It is so important that it actually happens to be my middle name. Before I was born, my parents found out that I was sick, but no one knew how sick I was. On a  Sunday, not long after that, a sermon was preached about hope, and they both felt in that moment the love of God, and they made the choice to put their hope in trust in God’s plan for my life. My first Christmas was six weeks after I was born. I was still in the NICU, and my parents spent the day by my side. 

Advent is a time that should cause us to reflect and think about moments in our own lives when we needed hope. I know that each one of us has or will have a story to tell about the goodness of God, and how He has “plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11). Consider Mary and Joseph. Their situation was less than ideal in more ways than one. They had to navigate the social issues that arose with Mary’s virgin pregnancy, they had to leave their home for the census, and Mary was forced to give birth in a stable. However, through all of this, they had hope that what they were a part of was bigger and more important than they could ever imagine. 

We may think that hope exists in the anticipation of finding the gift we wanted under the tree, or as we walk the aisles at a store looking for the perfect last-minute Christmas gift, but that kind of hope doesn’t last. True hope is found in the long nights sitting next to a hospital bed, or the rough days where everything seems to go wrong. Eternal hope is not found in changing circumstances but in the person of Jesus Christ. In 1 Peter 1:3, Peter writes that “In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” Therefore, even in the darkest times, “we have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure” (Hebrews 6:19).

This hope in Christ is an important part of our faith. “Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1). When we have faith and Christ-dependent hope, we have the strength to face anything that Satan may throw against us. He will try to convince us that there is no point in having hope. He will use your circumstances as accusations that God is not fulfilling His promises. But we are encouraged to “be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord” (Psalms 31:24) because we know that we have the God of the universe on our side, and we can have true hope in the promise that He is in control, and that He “works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). 

Whatever circumstance you find yourself in during this Advent season, I encourage you that there is a plan and purpose that you may not see. My prayer is that you receive the gift of His eternal hope, so that you will have the strength and confidence to walk through even the darkest of valleys, with the light of Christ illuminating your path.

 “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Romans 15:13