May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
(Romans 15:13)
This week, we’re focusing especially on reasons to be thankful in all circumstances. Today I am giving thanks to God for the gift of hope.
We can be thankful in all circumstances because in Christ we always have hope. We have hope because Christ is with us, Christ is for us and the last word is resurrection. We live in hope of the new creation, when all the brokenness and fallenness of this world will be undone. Nothing can take this away or undo it.
Christian hope is different from hope as it is normally referred to. We normally use the word “hope” to refer to things we wish for, but have not control over. We hope for better weather. We hope for a cure for cancer. We hope for peace on earth. But these are just wishes with little basis in fact.
Christian hope is built on the fact of the death and resurrection of Jesus. It isn’t wishful thinking, but confidence expectation. No matter what is going on in life, we live in the confident expectation that Christ will have the last word. We live in the confident expectation that He will even use all that is bad and tragic in our lives to bring blessing and goodness in ways that we cannot begin to fathom. For our hope is not limited to just this life, but embraces all eternity.
Thanks be to God for the gift of hope!
What are you thankful for today?
To subscribe to Abide Daily Devotion e-mail please click here.
Leave a Reply