Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Hope

16Never again will they hunger;
never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat upon them,
nor any scorching heat.
17For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd;
he will lead them to springs of living water.
And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

On Sunday, Brian preached on hope as a part of our Advent celebration. During his message, I was reminded of a book I'm reading about a family whose small plane crashed in the mountains of the western US during a snowstorm. Much of the story is about hope, whether those are the words the author used or not; about the survivors' ability to cling to the hope that they could find their way to safety kept them persevering through even the hardest parts of their experience.

As it is in the survivors' story, our sense of hope affects our every day lives. Though we may not be on a snowy mountainside trying to survive, while we're in the middle of our own struggles, hope reminds us:

that today's messes won't last forever.
that we won't always feel this way.
that we are truly forgiven, and our sins are white as snow.
that while sometimes things will feel lonely, it doesn't mean we are alone.
that we won't always feel like we are waiting.
that no matter how hard life gets, we have an eternal reward with which there is no comparison.

Max Lucado was once talking about this broken world, and said that when it all goes down in the end (however it looks), he thinks Jesus will utter two words: "No more". My sense of hope for the future was profoundly affected by that line.

No more fear, hunger, sadness... no more sickness, no more anger, no more death... no more frustration or tears or worry or anguish and no more painful words... no more lies, promises or broken hearts. It'll be a beautiful day when He brings close those who are His. All of the junk of a broken world draws to a close, and we'll see in full the result of the redemption made real by Jesus' work. Jesus provides us hope in the here and now, and in the long term. I am not alone when it gets rocky today... and even now, all is being redeemed.

So may you cling to hope this week; the hope found in Jesus... that we have not been left to bear the burdens of life alone. That we are forgiven. That someday, a great "No More" will be shouted from Heaven and the day will be beautiful. And He will wipe the tears from our eyes.

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