HOPE OF ALL THE EARTH
How Will This Be?
December 2, 2025
SCRIPTURE
LUKE 1:34-38
"How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"
The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail."
"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May your word to me be fulfilled." Then the angel left her.
LUKE 1:34-38
"How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"
The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail."
"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May your word to me be fulfilled." Then the angel left her.
I've always loved a happy ending. I know it's perhaps not the most artistic way for a story to end; I know it's not always the most insightful or profound, or even the most realistic—but I just can't help it. I'm a simple man. I want to see the couple living happily ever after; I want to see conquered villains and triumphant heroes. I want it all to end well. But the best stories don't make it easy. They make you work for it. They bring you through the darkest valleys before they let you see the brightest lights.
In the cinematic adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Two Towers, the two heroes Sam and Frodo have reached a crisis point in their quest. The odds seem insurmountably stacked against them. Their enemies are too many and too strong, and their mission is too vast for two simple hobbits from the Shire. Frodo tells his companion, "I can't do this, Sam."
And his loyal friend replies, "I know. It's all wrong. By rights we shouldn't even be here. But we are. It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines, it'll shine out the clearer. Those are the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now!
Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back-only they didn't. They kept going because they were holding onto something."
Frodo asks, "What are we holding onto, Sam?"
Sam says, "That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it's worth fighting for."
Sam's right. In the end, it's all worth it because, even in the deepest darkness, there's incredible, impossible hope. God's people have built their lives upon the fact that no word from God will ever fail, even when it's impossible. Even when there's no way things could ever get better, there's hope. Even when we can never get past this, there's hope. Even when they will never come home, there's hope. Even when that relationship can never be mended, there's hope--because no word from God will ever fail.
Mary was a teenager, doubtless with her own dreams and plans for the future. Then Gabriel appeared to disrupt all that and tell her she had a part to play in God's plan. This simple peasant girl from the middle of nowhere suddenly had a role in the redemption and renewal of all creation. It would mean loss; it would mean shame; it would mean whispers and rumours about the girl who became pregnant outside of marriage. Yet, even from this darkness and trouble and pain, Mary clung to the impossible hope that God would use it for the ultimate and perfect good. God would use it to carry the good news of life and freedom to the very ends of the earth, ensuring that all could be part of the wonderful celebration God was preparing.
We may find ourselves in the sad part of the story, in the hard part of the story. We may find ourselves in the place where hope seems ridiculous or even impossible. Nevertheless, no word of God will ever fail, although we may have to wait a long time to see God's promises fulfilled. God has assured his people that he is always at work for our good, even when it seems there's no way. He has assured us that he specialises in bringing life out of death and light out of darkness.
We are never hopeless. Light will always dawn for the people of God eventually. It may not happen when we want or in the way we expect, but God is faithful and trustworthy. He's the One who goes before, behind, and beside his people. The One who assured Mary assures us today.
In the cinematic adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Two Towers, the two heroes Sam and Frodo have reached a crisis point in their quest. The odds seem insurmountably stacked against them. Their enemies are too many and too strong, and their mission is too vast for two simple hobbits from the Shire. Frodo tells his companion, "I can't do this, Sam."
And his loyal friend replies, "I know. It's all wrong. By rights we shouldn't even be here. But we are. It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines, it'll shine out the clearer. Those are the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now!
Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back-only they didn't. They kept going because they were holding onto something."
Frodo asks, "What are we holding onto, Sam?"
Sam says, "That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it's worth fighting for."
Sam's right. In the end, it's all worth it because, even in the deepest darkness, there's incredible, impossible hope. God's people have built their lives upon the fact that no word from God will ever fail, even when it's impossible. Even when there's no way things could ever get better, there's hope. Even when we can never get past this, there's hope. Even when they will never come home, there's hope. Even when that relationship can never be mended, there's hope--because no word from God will ever fail.
Mary was a teenager, doubtless with her own dreams and plans for the future. Then Gabriel appeared to disrupt all that and tell her she had a part to play in God's plan. This simple peasant girl from the middle of nowhere suddenly had a role in the redemption and renewal of all creation. It would mean loss; it would mean shame; it would mean whispers and rumours about the girl who became pregnant outside of marriage. Yet, even from this darkness and trouble and pain, Mary clung to the impossible hope that God would use it for the ultimate and perfect good. God would use it to carry the good news of life and freedom to the very ends of the earth, ensuring that all could be part of the wonderful celebration God was preparing.
We may find ourselves in the sad part of the story, in the hard part of the story. We may find ourselves in the place where hope seems ridiculous or even impossible. Nevertheless, no word of God will ever fail, although we may have to wait a long time to see God's promises fulfilled. God has assured his people that he is always at work for our good, even when it seems there's no way. He has assured us that he specialises in bringing life out of death and light out of darkness.
We are never hopeless. Light will always dawn for the people of God eventually. It may not happen when we want or in the way we expect, but God is faithful and trustworthy. He's the One who goes before, behind, and beside his people. The One who assured Mary assures us today.
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION OR DISCUSSION
What do you think about the author's comparison of our hope in Christ to the scene from Lord of the Rings? Is the comparison a good one? Why or why not?
What does it mean that "no word from God will ever fail"?
What do you think about the author's comparison of our hope in Christ to the scene from Lord of the Rings? Is the comparison a good one? Why or why not?
What does it mean that "no word from God will ever fail"?
PRAYER
Write a prayer about the word from God you are waiting to be fulfilled in your life.
Write a prayer about the word from God you are waiting to be fulfilled in your life.