The story of Job and his calamitous suffering is well known. At his deepest point of despair, Job stated, “He laughs at the plight of the innocent” (Job 9:23). In so many words, Job was saying, “It doesn’t pay to be holy or walk uprightly. God treats the wicked and the pure the same. We both suffer, so why labor to be upright?”
Sitting alone in a cave, the saintly prophet Elijah had completely given up on society. Now elderly, secluded and dejected, the prophet had begged God to strike him dead because he was convinced that essentially “this nation is too far gone. The church is backslidden beyond repair and every leader is a puppet of the devil. Revival is simply impossible and there’s no hope left. I’ve had it, Lord!” (see 1 Kings 19:4).
Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
The prophet Ezekiel moved mightily in the Spirit and the Lord gave him a vision that holds a timely message of spiritual awakening for the church today. As was true of most Old Testament prophets, Ezekiel served Israel’s king, which meant traveling with the king’s army and witnessing the horrors of war. But Ezekiel received a vision so terrible that it surpassed anything he had ever witnessed in real life.
God can bring back to life anything you have given up as dead. We are all familiar with the story in Mark 5 of Jairus, the desperate synagogue ruler who asked Jesus to heal his daughter. The twelve-year-old girl was dangerously near death and Jairus pleaded with Christ to come to his house and lay hands on her.
Some things in life are completely out of our control. For instance, you cannot bring back a prodigal child and force him to return to his relationship with Christ. No matter how much you fast and cry out his name to God, the decision is his. Numerous other things in life present similar challenges but if you know the One who can move mountains, there is always hope.
For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
We serve a God of hope! The Greek word for hope is elpo, which means “to look forward to with pleasurable confidence and expectation.” The apostle Paul wrote to the Romans, “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13).
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
