Hope.

I love the word “hope”. It is a word that gives me the ability to keep going when things are crashing all around. It is a word that inspires me to do my best because I know where my hope comes from. It comes from my relationship with Christ.

I think that hope is sometimes the best gift we can give to someone. There are many who feel like they have no hope. Can there be anything worse than not having hope?

We need to remind the people we are around that it’s not too late! It’s not too late to start down another life path. Will things still be difficult? Yes, indeed!! Sometimes, in fact, when you do the right thing, life can get even more difficult. That’s not God’s plan, but we live in a fallen world. But, as Cameron Strang said in the current “Relevant” magazine, “In hard circumstances, we have an opportunity. Sure, we can get cynical or angry–that’d be easy. Or, we can make the harder decision and simply choose not to. We can choose to trust a God who is the same yesterday, today, and forever, no matter what’s happening around us.”

We need to remind ourselves and others of this! I think Christians struggle with this because of the pace of our lives sometimes distracts us from seeing Jesus as He is. So, if “seasoned” Christians struggle with this, we need to expect new believers and seekers to struggle even more!

The challenge this week is to think of some people you know who may be struggling with a lack of hope. Pray for them and see if God presents you an opportunity this week to share with them that it’s not too late for them to start down a different path. Maybe you are going to be the one who can introduce them to true hope.

More to come…
Jeremy