Let Hope Arise

 “Hope will determine America’s Resurgence or Decline,” is the title of a recent blog post by Jim Clifton, Chairman of Gallup Research.  Clifton summarizes the importance of hope saying, “When you think the future will be better than the present, you start working harder today.”  Recently I spoke with a high school student who had begun to receive letters of interest from colleges and national scholarship programs.  I was struck by the affect that they had on him.  He said, “It helps me know that someone is interested, that I am smart, and that I can do something with my life.” The letters gave him hope that his effort today would lead to a brighter tomorrow. 

Hope is a powerful force in the present that positions us for the future.  In Romans the apostle Paul writes “[because] we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand… we boast in the hope of the glory of God… And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” – Romans 5:2,5(NIV)

The good news of Jesus Christ is that hope is not dependent upon our performance.  God understood that we could not reach perfection and therefore made a way for us to know Him despite our imperfection.  He did this by sending His son who lived a sinless perfect life, yet suffered and died a murderer’s death.  John 3:16 gives us a glimpse of God’s heart saying, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

When we place our faith in Jesus Christ, God’s love and hope pours into our hearts.  The more we understand and experience this love the more hope we will live with.  Furthermore, we gain strength to believe for a brighter tomorrow.

Paul continues in Romans explaining the depth of God’s love; “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” – Romans 5:6-8 (NIV)

Perhaps you feel unable today to believe for a better tomorrow.  Be encouraged!  It is just the right time for God to visit you.   Yes, we will continue to have trials, but our hope is that through them our God will always stay.  We can take hold of the truth that “[nothing] in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord [Romans 8:39].”  Will you place your trust in Christ Jesus today?

Hope submits the present facts to the greater truth of God’s presence.