I don’t know about you but this whole situation is quite surreal, in fact sometimes I think I should pinch myself to see if I’ll wake up! I’ve never experienced anything like this before and while on one level, it is unsettling and fear inducing to have this threat hanging over our heads, on another level, at least right now, it’s just downright inconvenient. Unless of course, you were hoping to spend a couple of months indoors, in which case, your wildest dreams have been realized!
Most of our hopes and plans have been cancelled and the rest have been put on hold. We wonder how we should respond to a situation like this?
When the bible uses the word hope, it is not referring to something that is uncertain or that we wish will happen, like ‘I hope that we only have to shelter in place for 3 weeks’. When the bible talks of hope, it is referring to hoping for what has been promised. That means that hope is ‘looking forward to something that willhappen – guaranteed!’
The bible is constantly reminding us to put our hope in things that last, not the very temporary things of this world. But if I’m honest, when I’m in the midst of life, it can feel like the stuff of this world is the stuff that matters and that it will last. Rarely do I get such a clear reminder that whatever I have in this life is uncertain and temporary and when it comes down to it – I don’t have anywhere near as much control as I think I do!
My hope and prayer for myself and for each of us, is that we would put our Hope in what is guaranteed, or rather who is guaranteed – the Lord Jesus Christ. And even more so as we see just how shaky and unreliable every other Hope is!
May we find our Endurance of Hope in the sure foundation who is the Lord Jesus Christ!