An article I read yesterday reported that anger is now the emotion we share most. Three-quarters of Americans are angered by the state of the world and their own place in life! That is a lot of angry people! The writer went on to opine that the source of that anger is the sense of powerlessness over the future that so many people feel.
Confidence in our institutions has eroded leaving us with the feeling that there is no place of safety.
Christian churches enjoy the confidence of less than a third of us.
The justice system is viewed by many as corrupt, from the Supreme Court of the US on down.
Politicians are viewed as self-serving and corrupt by the majority of Americans. Yes, all this and more, has robbed so many of hope. How about you?
Angry people are not generally hopeful people. They become survivors, protective of themselves, lacking vision and purpose that leads them into the future.
Hope can be dimmed in our lives by personal troubles and crises
as well. When our days are overtaken by difficulties for which we cannot find
answers or problems that defy any solution that we can think of, hope may fail
and with that failure can come depression and darkness. This kind of hopelessness is magnified in our
time by the loss of faith, the feeling that we are alone, the captain of our
ship without a god to guide us! Has hope
dimmed for you? Are you unmotivated in
life, wishing to escape to someplace far away, perhaps even despairing of life
itself some days.
I would like to invite you to regain perspective by stepping
back and reconsidering your conclusions about life and hope. The Lord God is present. His purposes remain
secure. We can trust Him. His purposes
for you and me are greater than the moment in which we find ourselves today! The Scripture says “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake
you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:5-6, NIV)
Peter tells us to
"set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is
revealed." (1 Peter 1:13, NIV) Peter, at a most critical moment, had failed. As he saw Jesus, his hope, on trial before a
corrupt court, he grew afraid and hope was lost. The Gospels tell us that after his dramatic
denial of Jesus, he ‘went out and wept bitterly.’ He abandoned his call and went home to Galilee
to his fishing boat. Until… the resurrected Jesus found him and restored him to
love and faith.
He will restore us, just as He did Peter, IF we are willing to listen, to think, to worship (as in ‘sacrifice of praise’), and turn from our false hopes. Without slipping into cynicism I can agree with you that people fail, governments become corrupt, and preachers and priests can turn out to be empty suits. Our financial security can evaporate with an economic recession. Our family can fall apart when things like death or divorce visit us. But, here is what is true: Jesus never fails. He is our HOPE.
Meditate on this passage. "Beloved, now we are
children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know
that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is
pure." (1 John 3:2-3, NKJV) Our
hope in Christ Jesus will create a single-minded focus in us that lifts us out
of the gloom, allows us to see past the difficulties of the moment, and to live
for that Day when sin, death, and Hell are forgotten as we enter into eternal
life. A hope built on the gift of
eternal life through Christ will never be disappointed, nor lost! Nothing can
take away God’s gift of salvation and the promise of a home in Heaven.
Remember the focus of our faith, and thus the source of our hope, is not what we believe, but Who we trust! Near the end of his life, when he was imprisoned on Rome’s death row, Paul said to his young friend, Timothy, that his faithfulness to Christ’s Gospel was solid … “because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day." (2 Timothy 1:12, NIV)
On who or what have you set your hope?
Give some prayerful thought to that today. Take a break from the cycle of anger, fear, and hopelessness. Find a quiet place to think deeply about these words from the Word.
"Command those who are rich
in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which
is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with
everything for our enjoyment." (1 Timothy 6:17, NIV)
"Why am I discouraged? Why so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will
praise him again— my Savior and my God!" (Psalm 42:11, NLT)
"I wait
quietly before God, for my hope is in him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress
where I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor come from God alone. He is my
refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me. O my people, trust in him at all times. Pour out your
heart to him, for God is our refuge." (Psalm
62:5-8, NLT)
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(Video of this blog at this link)
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(let this worship song speak to you today)
Worthy of ev’ry song we could ever sing
Worthy of all the praise we could ever bring
Worthy of ev’ry breath we could ever breathe
We live for You
Jesus the name above ev’ry other name
Jesus the only one who could ever save
Worthy of ev’ry breath we could ever breathe
We live for You
We live for You
Holy there is no one like You
There is none besides You
Open up my eyes in wonder and show me who You are
And fill me with Your heart
And lead me in Your love to those around me
I will build my life upon Your love
It is a firm foundation
I will put my trust in You alone
And I will not be shaken
Brett Younker | Karl Martin | Kirby Elizabeth Kaple | Matt Redman | Pat Barrett
© 2016 Martin, Karl Andrew (Admin. by Arkyard Music Services Limited)
Kaple Music (Admin. by Bethel Music Publishing)
Bethel Music Publishing
CCLI License # 810055
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