The Coming Righteous Branch

"In those days and at that time 

I will cause a righteous Branch 

to spring up for David; 

and he shall execute 

justice and righteousness in the land." 

Jeremiah 33:15

I waited with hope in an emergency room on a Friday afternoon. The bandages for my dermatology surgery were coming loose and I felt needed attention. I checked into the emergency room and waited. I knew triage was how the system worked and that I was low on an emergency need. I waited for intake from the triage nurse, then for the room, then for the NP to examine the situation, then for the issue to be resolved, then for the discharge papers. 

I knew from the moment I entered the emergency room that I would be taken care of, but not how long it would take.

I waited with a blessed assurance.

Jeremiah waited with hope, a tenacious hope, for a righteous Branch from the line of David.

For Jeremiah, imprisoned by his own government for prophesying doom is bad enough, but it gets even worse. He's forced to serve his prison sentence in the middle of a foreign invasion. 

He speaks a tenacious word of hope, of a coming righteous Branch, to counteract all of the depressing, despairing conflicting evidence. And that is its power.

We wait with an Advent hope.  

Maybe the saving act of God isn't all that obvious to us. Maybe we can't see beyond the darkness of the violence or the despair of injustice around us. Maybe we don't experience great losses such as job, security, of home. 

God's promise through Jeremiah
says in the midst of darkness, light is about to break in. In the midst of despair, hope will erupt. After long tenacious waiting, a branch will sprout. 

God’s promises haven't happened yet, but a righteous Branch is coming.

Like Jeremiah, we need to speak these words of hope! Especially this Advent!