Hope fully!

— Midweek Meditations:
thoughts, inspiration and encouragement
from ACF community members —

How can we stay sane in these days? It is a year that Corona confines our lives. While toilet paper has been replenished for a long time, our hearts and minds are increasingly drained by the long social valley; leaving our souls downcast and disturbed within us as David writes repeatedly in the psalms reflecting his corona times. How can we stay sane after such a long time; where does our strength come from when we feel tired and weary. What EN-courages us when it is hard to get up after a long night?

I think it is hope.

Hope not in vain, but rooted in faith. Faith and Hope are tightly intermingled. A firm hope builds on faith and faith is not complete if it is not fulfilled in trusting the promise for the future. While faith describes the complete trust, you have in something or someone, hope is the confident anticipation of the future based on your faith-ful experience in the past and present. Hope is the light in the dark, fueled by faith.

For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have Hope.

Romans 15:4

Therefore, hope – like faith – entirely depends on its source and center. Hope can be readily disappointed and not carry you in difficult times. David writes about the source of his hope:

Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my HOPE comes from him

Psalm 62:5

And this is repeated in one of the most beautiful verses of the bible

but 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.

Isaiah 40:31

It is the great mystery of faith in Jesus Christ…

through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the Hope of the glory of God.

Romans 5:2

Yes, we can even boast in these times because we received…

the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Colossians 1:27

Lord, I want to experience Christ in me, so that I can feel the hope of glory in me.

Open my heart, mind and soul, fill me with hope overflowing. Lord, let my faith in your promises be a source of joy and light in these difficult times that shines not only for me but also for the people around me. Let this hope be an anchor for our souls, firm and secure, so that we are greatly encouraged. (Hebrews 6:18-19)

Let the darkness around and in us not quench the flames of our hope, but let us wait patiently and assured to see Your glory be fulfilled.

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you HOPE and a future.

Jeremiah 29:11

Amen