Just a thought on Hope

Someone recently asked how can anyone have hope for the future in light of the increasing violence and moral breakdown, not to mention the terrorism and the growing Middle East crises. How can anyone believe in a better tomorrow?

Hope is an irrational idea when our world is falling apart, but there is one sure way to discover a hope that says tomorrow can be better than today. There is one who can promise a future and hope even when we have messed up and have made bad choices.

Hope is defined as ‘A confident expectation of a bright future!’
Hope is always in the future

Did you know that the word hope occurs over 150 times in the bible?

It is the Book of Hope.

God is the God of hope.

Speaking of Jesus it says: ‘His name is the HOPE of the world.’ And In his name, the nations will put their hope.

In the book of Jeremiah it says: ‘For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a future and a hope.’

Hope is the only antidote to the two most common and crippling fears, fear of the future and the fear of death.

Former UN Secretary-General, Dag Hammarskold, wrote that any philosophy which cannot make sense of death cannot make sense of life either, and no one’s living will be right until the truths about death are anchored in his or her heart.

Hope is the anchor! For centuries the anchor has been a symbol of hope and in the journey of life, when we face a storm or a crisis, without that anchor of hope the consequences can be devastating.

The writer to the book of Hebrews States that we can have great confidence as we hold on to the hope that lies before us. This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls.

I once had the experience of being adrift at sea in a storm and with an anchor that failed to hold. After drifting helplessly for hours into the night, we ended up on a rocky beach, cold and wet, boat wrecked!

This experience has since provided me with a number of valuable lessons about boating, about anchors, about the sea and about life! Always make sure you have an anchor to keep you secure in the storms of life and gives hope instead of fear.

German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer and former Mayor of Cologne when surveying the ruins of the city immediately after the war said, “Outside of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, I know of no other hope for mankind.”

Romans 15:13. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.