Hope

So often, this life brings hardship, pain. These trials whisper to me of a Kingdom that is eternal, a world where true justice penetrates through to hearts and where peace and wholeness reign. I see so much hurt and despair in the world around me- young men dying in tragic accidents, brave girls with incurable terminal diseases who face death with more courage than I think I could ever have. Yet this points me to hope. The hope that we have. That this is not the end. That death is not final for those who are in Christ Jesus. For if the Spirit of God raised our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead, the same Spirit that lives in us will bring us into eternal life if so believe and belong to Him. That is hope, my friends. God has been renewing my understanding of His character and His sacrifice. I heard someone wisely say this week that God's perfect justice is exhibited in His absolute intolerance of sin, but that His perfect love is shown in that He made a way- He paid the price for us, so that He could look mercifully upon us and accept us into His eternal glory! That is truly hope, brothers and sisters. What wonderful news. Truly wonderful news.

We have hope. Cling to it. The book of Hebrews says to "hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful." (10:23). Yes, He is. He is faithful to His promises- faithful to accept the blood of Jesus shed for us, blood that cleanses us and makes us clean. Beloved, we are granted access to Him, peacefully reconciled to the God we turned our faces from and ran away from and rebelled against, all through the saving blood of Jesus. Hope. There is nothing like it.

So grieve the pain of this life. Be honest in your grief and cry out to God, for He longs to meet you there and cry alongside you. But do not despair, for we are promised hope. Hope for a future glory. This changes everything! We have the hope of eternity, friends. Sometimes I feel as if even though I continually long for that eternity with my Father increasingly more as I get older- I have less of a comprehension of just how---whole---it is going to be.

May you not be lost in the pain that accompanies this life. May you not drown in your sorrows- but know that He wades through them with you tightly in His grasp. May you experience the rest that comes from His presence- the green pastures that He leads you gently to, and the places where He restores your very soul. May you hold unswervingly to hope, though the pains and trials of this life try to deter you from the hope He has promised. And may you be granted the power, through the Lord Jesus and His Spirit, to believe in His faithfulness.