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40 Days Through the New Testament: Knowing the Savior Who Steadies Our Uncertainty
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Experience Jesus. Embrace Hope. Enter the new year with confidence.
Have you ever felt caught in the “in-between” — waiting for an answer, longing for hope, unsure of what’s next? We all know what it’s like to wrestle with unknowns and wonder if God will come through. God’s people knew this feeling too. For 400 years, they waited in quiet expectation for the fulfillment of His promise. And then, in the perfect moment, Jesus came — proof that God always keeps His word.
The New Testament is living evidence: God does what He says He will do.
That’s the heartbeat of 40 Days Through the New Testament. This study will help you start the year with renewed faith, fresh perspective, and steady hope in the Savior who never changes. And it’s yours as thanks for your special year-end gift to help others do the same!
What’s more, every dollar you give before December 31 will be doubled up to $87,500 thanks to our year-end match.
Today’s Teaching
What To Do While You Wait (Advent Hope)
Trisha Hawk
Day: 7 | Plan: Advent 2025
Start Here: Hosea 12:6
Key Verse: Hosea 12:6 (ESV) "So you, by the help of your God, return, hold fast to love and justice, and wait continually for your God."
Major Moment: Hosea urged God's people to return to Him, maintain justice, and wait for His help to come.
Sometimes it feels like all I do is wait. I wait in traffic to get where I'm going, wait to purchase items at a store, or wait to go to an appointment. Then there are the more complicated circumstances: waiting for results from a medical test, for restoration in a relationship, or for change in a difficult situation. Doesn't it feel unnecessary? Isn't waiting just a period until an anticipated event?
If we focus only on the expected result of our waiting, we may miss an important opportunity. Hosea 12:6 teaches us that what we do while we wait can deepen our relationship with God.
To understand this verse more clearly, consider the circumstances facing the original audience: The Israelites were about to experience exile as God's just judgment of their sins (Hosea 12:2), and to endure the exile, they would need to wait for His redemption.
Israel was already familiar with this kind of waiting. They had waited for God to deliver them from Egypt (Genesis 15:13-14), waited in the desert to enter the promised land (Joshua 5:6), and were still waiting for the Messiah to come (Isaiah 7:14). But a recurring theme in Israel's waiting was their unfaithfulness to God. During Hosea's time, Israel worshipped idols and made covenants with pagan kings. They took matters into their own hands. But they needed to learn to wait for God's plan to unfold.
The first instruction Hosea gave Israel was, "By the help of your God, return ..." (Hosea 12:6). Just like Israel, we must carefully consider our focus and our footsteps during seasons of waiting. Our heavenly Father is gracious and merciful, restoring our intimacy with Him if we return to Him from our wandering (2 Chronicles 7:14). And today He has given us the ultimate "help": The birth of Jesus marked the end of humanity's waiting for God to send a Savior.
When we choose to pursue a relationship with Jesus, we gain intimacy with God, which grows even deeper as we now await His return. Daily we learn to rely on Him, acknowledging that He "will supply every need of [ours] according to his riches in glory" (Philippians 4:19).
Certainly waiting is not easy when our circumstances do not align with our desires. Yet Hosea 12:6 encourages us to "hold fast to love and justice." In Hebrew, the word for "hold fast" implies protecting, guarding, or maintaining. This means even as we "wait continually" for God's resolution of our own circumstances, we are also called to continually love others as well as continually protect and defend what is right.
Hosea reminds us that our calling to faithfully display God's character does not change based on our circumstances. Instead, our perspective changes as we understand that God uses our waiting to accomplish His purposes.
This Advent, let's embrace the opportunity waiting brings us to deepen our relationship with God. The earth waited thousands of years until "the fullness of time had come, [and] God sent forth his Son" (Galatians 4:4). The arrival of Jesus on that first Christmas proves He can be trusted, and there is hope for all who wait on Him.
Prayer: Father, I am in awe of Your faithfulness, even in my waiting. Help me to focus on Your Truth and Your character as I wait. Teach me to trust You in my waiting, that I may rely on You for everything I need. In Jesus' name, amen.
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