Living His WordSample

We live in a sinful, broken world. Sin, sickness and disease, famine, war, poverty, persecution, and frustrations of every kind seem all too common. The world can grind you down. It can wear you out. It can get so bad, Isaiah tells us, that even young men stumble and fall. The prospects for making it all the way through in life can at times seem dim at best. The Christian, however, has a resource not available to others: hope. The biblical view of hope is not wishful thinking, but sure knowledge of something. It is sure because it is grounded in the God who can be relied upon to come through in the trials, tribulations, and troubles of life. Hope in God can give you the strength you need to get up from a fall and begin walking forward in life again; it can give you the strength to run when necessary; indeed, hope in God can even cause you to soar like an eagle over the problems of life. The promise of hope Isaiah proclaims does not imply that the brokenness of life will somehow cease to exist. Instead, it is a proclamation of the power of God to give us the strength and power we need in the midst of the brokenness. It is a proclamation of God’s ability to give us the wherewithal to go through life, despite what may come along, in strength and victory. Hope in God is a precious thing to have. If the troubles of life have ground you down to the dust, then “Put your hope in God,” like the sons of Korah, and you will be able to proclaim with them “for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God” (Psalm 42:5).