it is so amazing to me the things people endure in this life.
- heart break
- loss to death
- addictions to drugs, money, alcohol, food, sex, etc
- life without God
it is so amazing because we don’t have to encounter any of this hopelessly…but so many do.
we don’t have to encounter heart break without hope. throughout the psalms we are told how God satisfies. satisfies in the midst of persecution, sadness, life.
we don’t have to encounter death without hope. paul writes the thessalonians (1 thessalonians 4:13) to tell them that we don’t grieve like the world grieves, with no hope. we have hope for what is yet to come!
we don’t have to encounter addictions without hope of overcoming. paul says in romans (8:37) that we are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus.
as i sit and think about hope, or even just a little sheer excitement over the possibilities that are yet to come, it is amazing what it does to the spirit. it lifts my heart in ways that only hope in trusting Jesus could ever do.
in fact, romans 5 summarizes the thought quite nicely.
Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
some versions say hope does not disappoint. we get to hope in the mighty God who delights in doing exceeding abundantly…and who won’t leave us disappointed in the end.
