Hopes and Fears of All the Years

“The hopes and fears of all the years are met in Thee tonight.” (O Little Town of Bethlehem, Marcus Tidmarsh)

How often do we sing a song that really says something we need to hear but we just let the words roll off our tongues without penetrating the mind?  My husband just mentioned that this is true with many Christmas Carols, like “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” How many times do you suppose we have sung that song? Too many to count.

Everyone has both hopes and fears. It is apparent that the composer did, and he was sure that others who had gone before him also had them. The lyrics are saying, ”Don’t worry, your hopes and fears have been met in Christ. Not introduced but matched or overcome.” There is no hope or fear that he cannot acquire for us or meet in a way that eliminates the fear.  This is great news!

My hopes and fears have changed with the times of life I’ve been in. As a young single woman, with no one but myself to take care of, I rarely worried about paying my bills. After I was married and wanted a family, I wondered if we could afford for me to stay home and raise kids. Once I had a family money was a constant concern for a number of years.  Now, God has been faithfully providing for us for so long that I again don’t worry about paying the bills. But, adult children and grandchildren have offered me a whole new set of fears!

As I listen to the words of this carol, I hear the reminder that Christ is as competent to take care of my adult children and the grandchildren as He was to provide to pay my bills before I was married. 

God has also been, not just aware of my hopes, but  offering me more hope over the years. As He called me to Himself and then has systematically grown my faith, I am looking back on many hopes fulfilled by the same faithful heavenly Father who conquered my fears along the way.

When my children were small I hoped for God to sustain them, provide for them, and give them the ability and desire to follow Him and to be productive adults. I have hoped to be a faithful servant of God myself and to have a marriage that honors God.  Many of these hopes have been realized. Christ has met the hopes of all the years.

The fact is that God has not yet accomplished all of my hopes. There are still things I hope for others, for myself and my husband,  and in ministry for the Lord. Singing this line of “O Little Town of Bethlehem” reminds me that they are not lost hopes, Christ is capable of providing for or fulfilling all of my hopes from all of my years.

Christmas carols were written, not just to encourage believers with the truths of scripture, but to inform those who had not heard or could not read. Look at verse 3 and see the gospel clearly laid out for anyone with ears to hear:

How silently, how silently The wondrous gift is given!

 So God imparts to human hearts The blessings of His heaven.

No ear may hear His coming, But in this world of sin,

Where meek souls will receive him still, The dear Christ enters in.

The “Wondrous gift” is Jesus and it is God who imparts the Truth about Him to human hearts. Part of that truth is that He is the “blessings of heaven.” The Bible says we would not seek Him if He did not first draw us (John 6:44).  “In this world of sin” (Romans 3:10 says “none is righteous”, and Romans 3:23 says, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”) we still must humble ourselves and admit our sin. It takes a meek, or humble, person to see their own sin and repent so that Christ will enter into our lives.

The holy Child of Bethlehem has descended on us, as we have all prayed as we have sung this song over the years. For many of us He has cast out our sin and entered in, He has been born in us this way. We have heard the Christmas angels, their great glad tidings tell, He has come to us, He does abide with us, our Lord, Emmanuel!

This Christmas, will you pay attention to the words of the carols? Ask God to hear them as prayers, as praise, and thanksgiving for the everlasting Light that shines in dark streets and into dark lives, giving fulfillment of our hopes and peace in our fears.