Hope

Hope is such a powerful word. President Obama used this word as one of his campaign slogans, it is a keyword in the fight against breast cancer, and 1 Corinthians 13 tells us that it is one of God's most enduring and amazing gifts to us.

Tonight, Kyle and I were watching the news and it was filled with report after depressing report about our failing economy and the huge holes in the stimulus plan that is supposed to fix the dying economy. The next report was about the 58,000 Americans that have lost their jobs in the last two days. Kyle and I just kind of looked at each other and he made the comment that he is so glad that his hope isn't in our government, our President, our economy, or anything else other than Jesus Christ and the love that He has for us. I couldn't agree more, and as I was thinking about all the people that are going through hard times right now and that are stressed because of our economy, or our country's new leadership, or any other multitude of things that people find to worry about, I was heart-broken that not all of those people have the same hope that Kyle and I have.

God can use times like this to draw people closer to Him, and I pray (and I ask you to join with me) that people will realize that regardless of their current economic position, that we all have a God that loves us more than we can possibly imagine and that came to Earth and died for our sins, but was then RESURRECTED, overcoming death and Satan so that we can spend eternity in His presence if we only acknowledge what He has done for us, accept it and turn to Him in repentance. He gives us peace that allows us to look at the current condition of our country and not worry about tomorrow, but to trust that He will provide for us. This is the true meaning of hope, hope that comes from God and allows us the freedom to fully trust in Him.

So I HOPE that you place your hope in the right place when things get rough and when things are going great.