HOPE ALWAYS

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Hopes placed in mortals die with them; all the promise of their power comes to nothing.

Proverbs 11:7

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

The headlines lately have started to breed gloom and doom. Once again, our United States government is playing high stakes political poker with its constituents, posturing and infighting within the two major parties while millions upon millions of Americans wonder what next week will bring if the government shuts down as a result of the budget bill not being passed. A shutdown would put a lot of people home without a paycheck including our nation’s military and a potential absence of income is enough to get anyone anxious and nervous.

The sticking point is not the budget per se but the health care reform popularly known as Obamacare attached to it. One party, the Republicans, opposes it and a majority of the American people is against it. The Democratic Party, finding an advantage in the White House and the Senate, are bent on pushing the plan on the people regardless of how anyone feels about it. And so this battle is in the forefront with the government shutdown looming unless the Republican side buckles under and passes the bill, not relinquishing their opposition to the health care plan but unwilling to allow the American people to suffer as a result of a shutdown.

Frankly, it’s a mess and many people are feeling pretty hopeless right now, unsure of what the future might hold. This government issue is just one example of how this can happen but of course it happens in other ways more frequently than we want to admit. Life itself can place us in positions where we sometimes feel hopeless and helpless in the midst of our circumstances. Maybe this comes in the way of losing a job when one has bills to pay and a family to support. Maybe it comes in the midst of a relationship that has fallen apart. Perhaps it comes when the doctor delivers a diagnosis of what has been ailing you and the words deliver news of a disease that may or may not end up being terminal.

Yes, there are a lot of things that can happen that can leave us feeling like hope has abandoned us.

But why do we ever get to that point? Why do we ever reach a place where hope has seemingly disappeared?

The answer lies in who we place our hope in. Look at this proverb from Solomon:

Hopes placed in mortals die with them; all the promise of their power comes to nothing. Proverbs 11:7

The reason hope seems to fade is that we too often place all our hope on people and things of this world, mortals and tangible things that seem to harness power but really don’t. They are imperfect and are easily fallible. They do not hold all the answers. And they will not always be there for us.

Maybe you place your hope in a politician or politicians to save you from a precarious financial situation. Maybe you place your hope in another person to always be by your side and provide you joy and companionship. Maybe you place your hope in your money believing that it will always buy you happiness and peace. Maybe you place your hope in a doctor who you’re convinced will be your personal savior.

If you hold these attitudes on hope and others like it, I guarantee you that you will be left void and empty of hope during your life all because you have placed your hope in all the wrong things.

The only right way to hope is simple. It comes in placing your full trust in God and God alone. The psalmist exhorted his readers to adopt this attitude:

Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord. Psalm 31:24

When you hope in the Lord, you place your hope in the One who can give you the strength to do all things (Philippians 4:13), the only One who is with you in good and bad times, ready to guide, love, and comfort you through all the storms of life.

You’re reading this very devotion today because you are hungry for the Lord’s word for you. You are looking for encouragement and direction from the God who always delivers it perfectly when we seek it. Your yearning again can be related to the psalmist who asked this of the Lord:

Guide me in Your truth and teach me, for You are God my Savior, and my hope is in You all day long. Psalm 25:5

You see when we place our hope in God, in the only place it truly exists, then we find a hope that isn’t just for the moment but for the day. And when we awake the next day in the same hope in the Lord, then it’s there for that day. And when we adopt this attitude each and every day of life, then and only then will be have a hope that endures through life, no matter what comes our way. In this mindset, we can again find ourselves steadfast like the psalmist who wrote these words:

Surely they intend to topple me from my lofty place; they take delight in lies. With their mouths they bless, but in their hearts they curse. Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from Him. Truly He is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will not be shaken. Psalm 62:4-6

Need a solid rock to stand on through life when others want to bring you down?

Turn to the Lord who is the only place you can find hope.

Need a fortress to stand within for protection when life brings attack upon you?

Turn to the Lord who is the only place you can find hope.

Need shielded from slander and lies?

Turn to the Lord who is the only place you can find hope.

Need rest for your soul?

Turn to the Lord who is the only place you can find hope.

Need a sense of assurance in the midst of the current headlines and threats of government shutdown?

Pray for our nation and its leaders to turn to the Lord, the only place we will find hope.

Look at these final words from the psalmist:

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people He chose for His inheritance.

From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind; from His dwelling place He watches all who live on earth—He who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do.

No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength. A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save.

But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear Him, on those whose hope is in His unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine.

We wait in hope for the Lord; He is our help and our shield. In Him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in His holy name. May your unfailing love be with us, Lord, even as we put our hope in You. Psalm 33:12-22

Friends, today and every day I pray you will wait in hope for the Lord who is your hope and peace. Trust in His holy name and understand that He knows what your needs are before you even ask because He’s always watching you and keeping tabs on your life. His unfailing love will always be with you and He will always be working all things for your good when you give Him your love and faith (Romans 8:28).

He is your Deliverer.

He is your Redeemer.

He is your Savior through Jesus Christ, His only Son.

He is your hope now and forever.

Believe and trust in God and you will be able to tell others one more thing that the psalmist could proclaim with confidence:

As for me, I will always have hope. Psalm 71:14a

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

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