The Power of Hope

There is power in hope.  No one can adequately face the future without hope in their lives.  The apostle Paul speaks of Jesus being our Blessed Hope, Titus 2:13 "while we wait for the blessed hope-the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ."  As Christians we have the hope for heaven, for a new body and to live with God forever.  As parents we have hope for our children that they will be successful, get married and give us grandchildren to spoil.  Within our closest relationships we have hope of friendship, of being understood and the feeling of belonging.  We have hope that there will be breakthroughs to cure serious medical issues.  There are so many areas of life that hope is essential to face another year or even another day.  Unfortunately many who commit suicide do so because they see no hope, no way that life is going to get better and in fact the only way for life to get better for others is to end their own life.  Now this is a lie that a person begins to believe but it is still a lie.  So if you are reading this with little or no hope that your tomorrows are going to be better then today what can a person do to raise the level of hope in their lives.  An observation of life is that many people just begin to live with a quiet resignation that this is how life is going to be so they go on doing what they have been doing but with little hope for a better tomorrow.  Jesus has the solution to the lack of hope in our lives.  At this point some will say I already tried Jesus and it did not work for me.  I am not sure what or what was not tried but I encourage you to test Jesus once again to bring you hope.  Here are three simple things you can do to raise the level of hope in your life.  They are simple but they are not necessarily easy things to do therefore it will take work over a period of many days for you to begin to see hope arise in your life.  First, trust in God with all your heart for He has a plan and purpose for your life.  You are not an accident.  You are of great value for Jesus died on the cross for your sins.  You are loved by God beyond your capability to understand and He has your best interest in mind.  This is an act of faith that God will honor.  Second, stand upon the promises of God's Word.  Our circumstances will distract and hinder our ability to our reason for hope but when I stand upon His Word I can have the assurance in the God who is faithful will do exactly what He said He would do.  Third, wait upon the Lord.  The component of patience and waiting is the act of faith that is the hardest for man to live out.  Romans 4:20-21 "Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised."  Abraham trusted God in hope that God could do what He said He would do and put his present situation within that perspective.  That is our challenge to have hope in the midst of life that seems hopeless.
May the God of all love and power bring about a fresh sense of hope in your life.

Pastor John