Hope Is Coming
We have this hope as an anchor for the
soul, firm and secure. – Hebrews 6:19a
He was despised and rejected by
mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people
hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Surely he took
up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted. – Isaiah 53:3-4
Today is the day in between. We have suffered through
Good Friday but we haven’t yet seen the miracle of the Resurrection. We our
lost, alone, abandoned. Where is hope in the midst of our circumstances?
If you’ve never experienced deep betrayal, harsh words
thrown at you, sudden illness, even death, then count yourself fortunate. Jesus
warned us that in this world we would have trouble. We see it all around us. We
ache from the pain that rips our hearts apart.
We forget that He also said, “I have overcome the world.” (John
16:33) We are not lost or alone or abandoned. Hope is coming. Jesus is coming.
We just have to get through today.
In the deep valley, it’s sometimes hard to see the sun
coming up on the horizon. We look around and see only darkness. The path is
rocky, the way unclear. We have been abandoned, rejected by those closest to
us. Lies surround us and we wonder if the truth will ever raise its head. It
will. Hope is coming.
He was despised by those who didn’t understand. Jesus
was mocked and ridiculed. He came to save us all from our sins but we wanted no
part of it, of Him. We wanted to live and be a part of this world. We were
greedy, arrogant even, in our demands. Until the moment it was all gone. Why
did we fight so hard for something we were never meant to have?
This world is not our home. We hear that and nod in
agreement. We know what we’re supposed to say, what we’re supposed to believe.
Yet we live as though this is all there is. We puff up in self-importance,
refusing to acknowledge that it was never about us.
Hope is coming. He hung from a cross. He died so you
and I wouldn’t have to spend eternity separated from God. All we have to do is
believe, to put our trust, our hope, in Him. Why is it so hard to let go of the
things of the world in order to embrace the inheritance that awaits us in
heaven?
Maybe we don’t really believe. We know the answers but
our hearts tell a different story. Our actions push aside what really matters.
We live with our eyes on the prize before us rather than the home that awaits
us.
Hope is coming. Jesus was arrested, ridiculed,
rejected and abandoned. And yet He loved us enough to conquer death and offer
us a way to salvation. Hope in the midst of darkness. Hope in the midst of
pain. Hope in the midst of rejection.
Reach out. Don’t you see? There is light just over the
horizon. Hang on. Hope is coming.
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