Zachary Elliott, Special to Valley News
My daughter’s new prom dress hangs in my closet. Her hopes of spending a fun night with her friends is now just a memory. Now she just tries it on and imagines what it would have been like.
Too many of you have faced similar challenges. Some people’s hopes of a dream wedding, big family vacation or walking the aisle for graduation have been postponed until further notice.
I’ve even heard of some who have had to postpone the celebration of the life of a lost loved one. That is heart breaking.
The question is what can people do when the things they were hoping for get postponed or even canceled? Now where can they put their hope?
My suggestion is to put your hope in someone who will never fade, be delayed or even quarantined… Jesus.
Here are five reasons to put your hope in Jesus when all other hope fails.
He is the source of all hope.
The source of our hope can’t come from our circumstances. It has to come from something that will never let us down. That’s what the Bible teaches us in Romans 15:13, and it’s my prayer for you: “I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.”
He is the hope in you.
If I were to only rely on my emotions and feelings to bring me hope, I would be one sad individual. My hope and yours must come from something deeper, something eternal. Colossians 1:27 teaches us that our hope comes from this very place: “To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles (that’s us) the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
When Jesus lives in your heart, your hope is not just for this life. It’s for all eternity.
He is the hope that renews your strength.
There’s nothing more deflating than having your hopes up only to be disappointed. It can actually sap your strength and put you in a downward spiral. When you put your trust in Jesus, the one who never disappoints, it renews our strength. Isaiah 40:31 makes this crystal clear: “Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint.”
He is the hope in our suffering.
No one enjoys suffering through trials. It’s uncomfortable and often painful. When we face those times, we have to remember that Jesus faced his suffering on the cross for us. He did it to pay for our sins and to set an example for us to follow.
Romans 5:2-6 tells us that when we follow Jesus’ example the suffering makes us better and the hope never disappoints: “We boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope 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. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.”
He is our eternal living hope.
There is only one hope that’s eternal. It’s found in Jesus. When he rose from the dead, he not only claimed victory over sin and death; he also claimed victory over our hopelessness. He is our eternal hope, and in this we greatly rejoice.
1 Peter 1:3-6 tells us “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.”
Zachary Elliott is the lead pastor of Fusion Christian Church in Temecula. For more information, visit https://www.fusionchristianchurch.com, https://fourminutefaithbuilder.com or find them on Instagram.
