HOPE
Darkness Cannot Withstand the Light
Christian hope is unlike any other kind of hope because it does not glitter far off on a distant hill. By death, our hope has entered into death in us—the darkest, ugliest, most miserable parts of our souls and bodies. Hope is closer to us than we are to ourselves because our hope is Christ, who died and now lives.
Imagine a bright light entering a dark room. The darkness cannot withstand the light, and death cannot survive the presence of Life, the Word, the King, God of all that is. He is the victor over sin and death
Our hope is in the Lord, and the Lord is in us.
Though our situations may seem hopeless, though it may seem that God is far from us, we can trust in his power to resurrect us from sin and disease and death itself.
In fact, that is what is promised to Christians in the Paul’s letter to the Corinthians: “But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since through a man came death, also through a man came the resurrection of the dead. For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.”
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…In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.
1 Peter 1: 3-6
Prayer of Hope
Lord,
Though I may suffer trials, keep me in your hope. Teach me to call out to you when I am in despair: Come, Lord. In your mercy, fill me with your presence. Help me to carry my cross lightly, in the hope that you will restore, heal, and put aright all things. Lord, I love you. Teach me to love you better. “Make me to hear joy and gladness, that the bones you have broken may rejoice.”
