Those four little words captured my attention a few weeks ago as I scrolled through my Instagram feed. They were the theme of several local churches for December and were penned in beautiful fonts against the background of starry night skies, rustic manger scenes, and snow capped tree boughs.

It was on a run, of course, that God took those four words out of my IG feed and reformatted them as a question to me:

“Does hope thrill you?”

He didn’t ask it in a condemning tone. Just matter of factly.

I spent most of that day’s run pondering His question. My answer was really another question directed at myself. “Am I THRILLED about the message of hope?” And for that matter, “What is it about this season of the year that thrills me?” I started to list off stuff in my head. My train of thought went off in many directions from the gift of salvation to Christmas shopping to race PR’s. And then it occurred to me that perhaps I was confusing “thrill” with “adrenaline rush.”

I mean really, if you asked people to list their top ten of what thrills them, I’m willing to bet the birth of baby Jesus would not make the cut. Now since it’s December – with so many images and reminders about Jesus being the reason for the season – maybe the percentage would be higher. But what about the other eleven months of the year?

Back to those four words…I couldn’t put my finger on their origin until last Wednesday when I met up with some friends for our usual prayer walk in Central Park. I felt more excitement than usual perhaps in anticipation of Christmas just four days away and that it was our last prayer walk of 2017.  What is a prayer walk you ask? It is exactly that – a time to walk and pray. No agenda. Except to set aside the busyness of the day and draw closer to God’s heart for the areas He wants us to cover in prayer.

These “walks” seem to naturally begin with praise and thanksgiving as we take in the seasonal beauty of the trees, hear toddlers playing in the distance, see teenagers catching air in the skateboard park, and feel the wind blowing the flags outside City Hall. Flags that seemed to be flying at half mast more often than not in 2017. All the more reason for our weekly prayer walks.

As my friends and I rounded the connecting middle school track, I couldn’t stand it any more. I had to ask “Where are those words from?” I wasn’t sure if it was Scripture or a Christmas song.  All three of us simultaneously did that thing you do when you’re not sure the order of letters in the alphabet – you start from the beginning and sing the whole thing:

“O holy night the stars are brightly shining
It is the night of our dear Savior’s birth
Long lay the world in sin and error pining
Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth

A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices
For yonder breaks a new glorious morn
Fall on your knees
O hear the angels’ voices
O night divine
O night when Christ was born
O night divine o night
O night divine”

Boom! There it was. In a song that I’ve heard every year since I could utter the word “Christmas” as well as dozens of times this month on the radio and even my own iPod playlist. How did I miss it all this time, all these years?

After realizing the context of  the words “a thrill of hope,” the remainder of our walk moved in the direction of praying for “souls to feel their worth” as the song expresses so poignantly. As well as the hope that when you truly know your worth in God’s eyes, the magnitude of the Savior’s birth will drop you to your knees. We prayed this for our city leaders, employees in the surrounding office buildings, school administrators, students, families, local businesses, local churches, pastors, government, and even (or especially) the teenagers catching air.

When I think about all the times those City Hall flags have been at half mast in 2017 alone, it is discouraging. But each time, the wind would cause those flags to unfurl – sometimes fiercely – so you could still visually distinguish their representation of city, state, and country. Perhaps this is an object lesson capturing a snapshot of God’s heart and how I need to respond when I hear His heartbeat: thrilled with hope. After all, without hope, our prayers have no effect. They’re just words. Like flags without the wind.

Over the years, I’ve learned to take God at His Word quite literally. I can’t help it; He made it too easy with all the running references. This Christmas, the account of the shepherds RUNNING to see baby Jesus in Luke 2 (MSG) changed my perspective on “a thrill of hope.”

‘“Let’s get over to Bethlehem as fast as we can and see for ourselves what God has revealed to us.” They left, running, and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger.’

[Later on] “The sheepherders returned and let loose, glorifying and praising God for everything they had heard and seen. It turned out exactly the way they’d been told!”

Earlier I said that I was confusing “thrill” with “adrenaline rush.” But what if God intends for the thrill of hope in Him to also give you an adrenaline rush? Those shepherds experienced the trifecta of adrenaline rushes that Christmas Day by hearing the angels proclamation, running a PR to see the Savior of the World, and telling everyone about the thrill of hope they’d just personally witnessed!

This may not go down as recommended speed training by most running coaches, but I actually did this the other day: ran like I’d just heard the Savior had been born. Yep, I pictured my finish line as the stable with baby Jesus and ran all out until I got there. I think I might’ve even pushed passed a few shepherds along the way.

As I wrap up 2017, there’s much for which I’m thankful and hopeful. My prayer going into the new year is to be SO thrilled with the things God reveals to me that I can’t help but run and tell everyone.