“There was never a night or a problem that could defeat sunrise or hope.” ~ Bernard Williams
“Sleep on it. Things will look better tomorrow.” How many times have we heard someone tell us that when we were worried or trying to figure something out? There are a couple of reasons for that. One reason is that, when we go to sleep, our subconscious often continues working on whatever problem we have been contemplating and we just might wake up with a solution. The other reason is that, even though we may go to bed feeling gloomy, a good night’s rest and gazing at a sunrise and new day cannot help but fill us with hope.
We are a people who continuously look for hope. That is our soul speaking deep within us. Our soul knows that we have been given the ultimate hope: the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Christ has destroyed darkness, sin, and death. We need not fear death but, rather, embrace the hope given to us by God.
Why, then, do we often live without hope? Perhaps it is because we let our mortal nature speak to us. Our fears, frustrations, wants, desires: these all speak to us and fill us with craving or with dread. We turn to the empty promises of the world to fill whatever perceived void we have in our lives. However, emptiness cannot fill anything. By its very nature, emptiness can only leave us empty.
But God? God can fill us with so much goodness. God can fill us with peace. God can fill us with love, hope, and joy. God is the only answer, the only true answer, for our lives.
The world would have us believe that it can fill us with all that truly matters. However, the things of the world, great or small, are all temporary. They will crumble away into dust and leave us with nothing. What God has to give us will never crumble. It will never fade. It will never leave us.
God gives us true hope. He asks us to embrace that hope and to use it to face our world, to face our own fears and doubts, and to be changed by the hope that He has given to us. In becoming changed, He wants us to be models of hope for others, for those who may have been like us.
If we show the world that God can and does make a difference in our lives, others will see what we have become because of God’s love and they can have hope for their own situations as well.
Be that hope for another today.
FAITH ACTION: Pray for those who have lost hope, that they may find it in God’s incredible love for them.