Hope is a very precious commodity: it can see you through the roughest of storms. It is a joyful awareness that your present difficulty is not how the story ends.
I am not referring to positive thinking per se, although if we are honest, it is bucketloads more fun to have a positive mind set than a negative one.
Hope is more about the reason why we can be positive.
Hope you see, is not wishful thinking. It is a confident expectation of a beautiful future. It is a firm assurance of the security we have, despite the challenges we are facing.
What then is this hope that is the anchor of our souls?
It is the fact that because you have received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, this living God will be your refuge and strength, an ever present help in times of trouble.
Scripture never promises a life without difficulty, but it does reveal that we will be not abandoned in the challenges. Hope is the awareness that sickness and death do not have the final say.
Paul the apostle in 2 Corinthians 4:17 said: “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.”
It bears mentioning that Paul’s light and momentary troubles included being beaten within an inch of his life, flogged in the public square, stoned and left for dead and going without shelter and food. Much like the winepress helps produce the grape juice, our difficulties create an environment to receive more of God’s and to pass it on to others.
Our hope is in something far bigger that our ability to get everything right. Our great hope is the person and work of Jesus the Christ. He died on our behalf to remove the stain of our sin which separates us from God. Jesus is the great rescuer and the good work He began in our lives, He will carry on to completion. He is able to keep us from falling and present us blameless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. Our hope is eternal.
Dave Koch
Frontiers Church
