Hope in Hopeless Times
The Hope in Hopeless Times By Jack Graham
A number of years ago, a submarine went down off the coast of
Instantly recognizable as Morse code, the diver discovered a survivor on board who was slowing tapping, “Is there any hope?”
Now, more than ever, this is the question our world is asking!
The worldwide economy continues to sputter and hiccup, causing widespread loss of employment and catastrophic loss of retirement savings. Our nation is deeply divided along party lines. Terrorists stalk the planet. Nations are at war, with no seeming end to the violence in sight.
Is there any hope?
Pandemic diseases are raging around the earth. Starvation is everywhere. People are asking questions regarding the environment and the future of planet earth. Lawlessness is moving everywhere, immorality is increasing, and it seems in the war for right and wrong that wrong is winning!
Is there any hope?
The good news is that because of Easter… and only because of Easter… the answer to this age-old question is a resounding YES!
Because of what the Lord Jesus accomplished through His death and resurrection, we have a living hope. Hope for an abundant life here on earth and hope for an eternal life with God in heaven after we die.
I love what 1 Peter 2:9 says about the hope you and I have in Christ.
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
Now, remember that the man who wrote these words was Simon Peter, a man who—despite the fact that he walked intimately with Christ—ended up denying Him right before He was crucified. Talk about knowing what it’s like to walk in darkness! Yet because of the resurrection we celebrate this Easter season, Peter was given the strength and power to become the man God made him to be. The man who had a yellow streak running down his back when he faced the enemies of Christ, eventually stood boldly proclaiming that Jesus lives after being called into His “marvelous light”! And this same life-transforming hope is available to you and me today. This means there’s no sin, no failure, no shame, no grief, no issue in your life that Christ’s resurrection power can’t reach! As the apostle Paul says, “Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14). So let me ask you, what things that lie behind do you need to forget about today? What past sins, failures, and defeats are keeping you from pressing on “toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus”? Take some time to list those things. And then, pray that God would help you release whatever it may be that’s keeping you from becoming who He created you to be. Is there any hope? Absolutely! Because of what Christ Jesus did for you and me on the cross, we have hope to overcome yesterday, hope to live abundantly today, and hope for an eternity spent with Him tomorrow!
|
 |
|
 |
