When a powerful typhoon swept through the city of Tacloban, Philippines, in 2013, an estimated 10,000 people died, and many who survived found themselves homeless and jobless. Necessities became scarce. Three months later, while the town was still struggling to dig itself out from the destruction, a baby was born on a roadside near Tacloban amid torrents of rain and strong wind. Although the weather brought back painful memories, residents worked together to find a midwife and transport the mother and newborn to a clinic. The baby survived, thrived, and became a symbol of hope during a time of despair.
Forty years of Philistine oppression marked a grim period in Israel's national history. During this time, an angel informed an Israelite woman that she would give birth to a special son (Judg. 13:3). According to the angel, the baby would be a Nazirite - a man set apart to God - and would "take the lead in delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines" (v. 5). The infant, Samson, was a gift of hope born in a troubled time.
Trouble is unavoidable, yet Jesus has the power to rescue us from despair. Christ was born "to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace" (Luke 1:76-79). Jesus is the hope that calms life's storms.
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