A Ray of Hope
by Rebekah Siah
Christmas represents so much to us but foremost it embodies hope, intimacy, and love of an incomprehensible magnitude from our almighty God for His people. This Christmas, Rebekah reflects and offers a prayer of thanksgiving to God for all that He is to us.
“The greatest gift wasn’t placed under a tree, but He was hung on a tree” – unknown
In times such as these, our eyes see gloominess, our ears hear mourning, and we think to ourselves, ‘When will these sorrows come to an end?’. The turmoil of our surroundings that creep into our minds and hearts is real. When hope seems foggy, do not be discouraged for there is one hope that saves, and that is Jesus Christ, given to us by our Father in heaven with love that can never be fully fathomed.
Christmas brings us to the birth of Christ. He reminds us of the hope that is always laid before us. Of all the gifts that we may receive during this Christmas, there are none as great as the gift of Christ the Son whom the Father so willingly bestowed for our sake. With excruciating pain, Jesus Christ, our God, bore upon Himself the wages of our sins and gave us hope and salvation that we may be saved.
(11) Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the LORD.” And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; (12) and after the earthquake, a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice,
1 Kings 19:11-12
With fear and discouragement, Elijah left his servant and ran away from Jezebel when she threatened to kill him. When he was in a cave all alone, he had a personal encounter with God as mentioned in 1 Kings 19:11-12. Instead of the ‘great’ natural occurrences that manifested in his surroundings, God appeared to and was found by Elijah in a still small voice. The still small voice is a gentle whisper that can only be heard when one is extremely close to another. The love of God, manifested through His Son, draws us to a place of intimacy with our holy God. In this place, we find love, we find hope. Our Father is a good, good, Father who only yearns to give good gifts to His children. In every circumstance, He is never far. He is so much closer to us than we can ever imagine. He is in us and we in Him. Here is my prayer of thanksgiving for all of us during this Christmas:
Dear Heavenly Father,
How great You are, Lord. You are magnificent and majestic. You formed my inward parts and ordained me for a greater destiny. In Your image, I am fearfully and wonderfully made and that my soul knows very well (Ps 139:13,14).
Every morning as I wake up from sleep, I remember yet another day added to my life. You breathe in me Your breath of life. I am held with such closeness and intimacy to Your love, and Your mercies are new every day. Each day, I run my journey with brand new strength as I lean on Your Spirit that enables me to proclaim, “Thank You for another day of breakthrough, another day of living victoriously” for I know that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Phil 4:13).
Even when it is hard, I remember Your never-ending goodness. I came thus far for You sustained me all these years and have never failed. You whisper Your truth in me when I fail to see them. You assure me of my identity in You when I fail to remember. In every season, I know that I shall again rise higher for You have given me beauty for ashes, oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that I may be called a tree of righteousness, the planting of which was by the Lord, that You may be glorified (Isa 61:3).
All these are because I found my hope in You alone. I found my life in You. I found myself in You. Thank You for the gift of Your precious Son, Jesus Christ. Thank You for Your grace given to me. Thank You for Your never-ending love. “Gladden my heart with Thy peace; through Jesus Christ my Lord”: (John Baillie). Amen.
About the Writer
At the time of the publication of this article, Rebekah Siah is pursuing MA in Postcolonial Literature in UKM due to her reading pleasure. This significant path kickstarts her enthusiasm in understanding humanity through writings as it enables her to dissect the works of worldview and incorporate Kingdom-view into humanities. Besides reading, she enjoys writing, composing, and playing music as platforms to express herself.
Rebekah’s life as a child of God has been an amazing one. As she describes, life is a roller-coaster ride where every sense of emotion comes into place but there is always a reminder of the goodness of the heavenly Father. ‘Every ride of ups and downs in life is so much more beautiful with Jesus than a smooth ride of life without Jesus’.