If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.
Everyone needs hope. Even the most hardened skeptic longs to have something to hope for. It's the way God made us. Hope is a gift from our Creator to warm our journey as well as walk us through despair. C.S. Lewis says hope is "one of the things a Christian is meant to do."
So how do we do hope? How do we keep the difficulties in life from smothering us? How does hope work in a world where headlines detail violent beheadings, Christian massacres, and rampant injustice? When a parent's dream for his child is snuffed out? When life savings are swallowed up in medical bills? How does hope lift us up?
Christian hope rests on the Resurrection. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ promises us that something good will rise from every grave of disappointment. We do hope when we embrace that promise and depend upon the unwavering character of God to fulfill it.
We do hope best when we turn our myopic expectations from this world to the next. Paul says if our hope is limited to this life only, we're in a pitiful state. If our vision does not extend beyond the present, neither will our hope. Until we understand that all we experience in this life prepares us for the next, we will remain vulnerable to hopelessness.
If you are a Christian, you have access to unlimited hope. Hope that whispers to you and me the best is yet to come....
So let's do it!
*Father, I pray You will help us cast our eyes on the source of our hope. Help us look beyond our present circumstances with the assurance that You use everything for our good. May we plunge into that unlimited hope. In Jesus' name, amen.
Take Action
Remember the Resurrection. Replace all your difficult situations with the choice to hope rather than despair.