One Day (There Will Be Healing)Sample

REAL HOPE

I’m a big baseball fan. More specifically, I’m a big St. Louis Cardinals fan. Every year at the start of the season, I have high expectations. In conversations with other fans, it’s inevitable that the question will be asked, “Do you think we will win it all this year?” to which I will always answer, “Man, I hope so!” Obviously I have no clue how my team will perform even in their first game, let alone the championship, but I can still hope! This type of hope is really just wishful thinking. It’s based on nothing more than a personal desire to see something happen.

As Christians, we have a different kind of hope. We have a hope that is founded upon things we know to be true. God has made promises to us in His Word, like “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).  When we are going through tough times, when things happen to us that shake our life, we don’t just wishfully “hope it gets better.” No, we have a real hope that God is already in the middle of our trial, working it for our good. It’s not the same hope that I have in my team to win; it’s an unshakable hope that the Creator of the Universe means what He says and will do what He says He will do.  

It’s a hope that we have “as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure” (Hebrews 6:19).  Our greatest hope lies beyond this life. Through Christ’s sacrifice, God has given us the promise of eternal life with Him. This hope that we have “does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us” (Romans 5:5). My prayer is that you would embrace this incredible hope today. It isn’t just wishful thinking; it’s hope that has been bought with the blood of Jesus.