Staying Connected During a CrisisSample

# It's Time to Shine ... I guess we’re all at the point of adjusting to a new normal. A normal of social isolation that in one way or another is going to go on for quite some time. A normal where many people are withdrawing into their shells amidst this COVID-19 pandemic. Yep, people are doing it tough – from a health and safety perspective and financially as well. Life as usual has been profoundly disrupted and it’s not very pleasant, wherever you live, whatever your circumstances. And yet in Christ, we have hope. Now, you and I might say, “I hope it doesn’t rain tomorrow.” But that has no absolutely no impact whatsoever on whether indeed it’ll rain tomorrow or not. But when God uses that word “hope” in the Bible, He means “certain hope” – a rock-solid, done deal kind of hope. Writing to a bunch of Christians who at the time were suffering horrendous trials … Peter writes this: 1 Peter 3:15,16 Always be ready to make your defence to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence. As you and I draw close to Jesus during these difficult times, He blesses us with a certain hope in Him; with a peace, with a joy in the face of adversity that to many of those around us simply doesn’t make sense. It’s time to let that hope shine out of you. Let others see it. And when they ask you why you have this warm and peaceful countenance about you, tell them. Tell them about Jesus. ## Life Application Questions: * How certain is your hope in Jesus during these difficult times? * Do you need to start believing what the Bible says about hope more than what your circumstances are saying about your future? * Is the hope that you have in Jesus Christ shining out of you into the lives of other people? * What opportunities might you have to share that hope into the life of someone who, right at the moment, is consumed by uncertainty and fear?