On hope during difficult times!!!
Posted on August 25, 2008, by danny beteta, under church.
The Olympics came to an end last night and the event was televised around the world. Bob Costas and the other analyst for NBC said one thing that I really liked. They said something along the lines of “we saw hope for these past two weeks, hope of a better world…” That is what Life’s purpose is “to bring life to the valley!” We are called to offer God’s hope to a lost world! We are to offer hope in the midst of despair!
We know that hope is a very necessary commodity for our well being. As human beings, we tend to look for hope in a lot of wrong places. You probably know what I’m talking about!! But, just because people look in the wrong places for hope, and just because a lot of people get their hopes destroyed due to circumstances, it does not mean that there is no hope available to every person who looks in the right direction. The apostle Peter says in his first letter: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3)
A living hope! A life giving hope! We have a living hope that is sure and unwavering, a hope that is rooted and grounded in a living relationship with God!!! This living hope assures us that God is with us in the midst of our trials and tribulations!!
This life was not designed to be easy or free from difficulty or sorrow or suffering.
Too many people base their whole lives on this false belief that says life should be easy. We all have struggles; we too have financial collapses; we too have people break their promises or act terribly toward us; we all worry about bills, house payments, etc. We all face health problems. We all face death. There are no exemptions just because you are a Christian. Life is not easy. But this hope, this living hope will keep you going.
In the midst of your disappointments, take comfort in this, “I have a living hope in our Lord Jesus Christ and he is getting me ready for glory!” and it will make the trials easier to bear.
Peter continues to write, “and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:4-9).
The trials and difficult situations we encounter in our lives will result in praise if we keep grasping to the arms of our Living Hope, our Lord Jesus Christ! Down deep inside every Christian heart is a joy that cannot really be stopped or contained. It is a joy that is not natural; a joy that is not emotional; it is a joy that is rooted in your relationship with God, that continues to grow as you endure trials, and a joy that nothing that can happen to you can get down into your life will be able to destroy that which God has placed there in the core of your soul.
The true Christian should be the most joyous person that walks the earth. This joy should show out through your eyes, through your face, through your expression, through your body language, through everything about you. Everything about you should speak to others about your relationship to the Lord God who has saved you, through the death, burial and resurrection of His own Son. God loves you with an everlasting love, and that should put a smile on your face, gladness in your heart, and a light in your life and a bounce in your steps that speaks about Jesus.
My friends, this is the Living Hope!!! The glory of the Christian life… in the midst of a hopeless appearing world, and we can share it with others who are still searching for hope! Be the church!
Pastor Danny
