Hope is not a product in great abundance today. Many are disappointed in our government. Others are disappointed in the lack of world peace. Numbers have run out of hope for their marriage to succeed, their children to turn out right, or their career to be meaningful. Is this short supply of hope to continue for long?
The Apostle Paul had a strong rebuttal for those who had no hope. Romans 5:1-5 (NIV) challenges: “since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God though our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.”
Yes, in the world, hope is in short supply. The usual “optimistic wells” about the essential goodness of man and man’s evolving state of perfection have run dry. To find hope, try an old well that is not dry.
When God pours out His love in your heart and lives in that outpouring, there is nothing that can drown your hope. It will be revived again and again as the Holy Spirit whispers to you truths about God’s love and care.
Jesus is the guarantee that every death-dealing experience in life must give way before resurrection power. Nothing attacks our hope like physical or emotional suffering but even those negatives are defeated by positive hope in Christ. Try to see the big picture. As you hope in life after death, seeing Jesus, spending eternity in Heaven; allow some of the future hope to reflect back to now.
“To You, O Blessed Hope, we look for our daily inspiration knowing that
You never fail to inspire us and give us another reason for living. Amen”
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