Without Christ we have no hope

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you,

says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil,

 to give you a future and a hope. 

(Jeremiah 29:11)

Many young people today feel they are loosing hope of the future. They are bombarded with news that is depressing — from the war in Syria which seems to have no end, terrorist attacks in Paris and other locations around the world, the issue of climate change, the refugee problem stretching across Europe, high unemployment rates in many areas, the cost of housing (will they ever be able to afford their own home), peer pressure at school, bullying (particularly cyber bullying). Life is looking bleak and they have no idea what their future will look like. 

However, it is not just the young that are feel down at the moment — many adults are too. They are rapidly loosing hope because they do not have Christ in their lives and when they look around they can only see doom and gloom and nothing that might lift them from that despair.  Without Christ we have no hope at all. 

 In Christ alone my hope is found,

He is my light, my strength, my song;

this Cornerstone, this solid Ground,

firm through the fiercest drought and storm.

What heights of love, what depths of peace,

when fears are stilled, when strivings cease!

My Comforter, my All in All,

here in the love of Christ I stand.*

We know that without hope, we have nothing in life. Christian hope is what gets us through all our trials and tribulations, and thanks to Jesus Christ, we have LOTS to hope for because He has promised us glory. It is comforting to know that no matter what troubles you and I are currently experiencing in our lives, we will always have salvation waiting for us. We know this because there is Scripture on hope that tells us this. 

Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost. (Romans 15:13)

Our hope is in God's future, the future He has prepared for us in His Kingdom — and not in this earthy mess. We do not need to despair if we constantly look upwards. "This moment can indeed be bad, this moment can indeed be evil. But our future is good, and all things now, even the evil things now, are working together to achieve it"**

Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation,

 continuing steadfastly in prayer.

(Romans 12:12)

* Hymn "In Christ alone" by Keith Getty and Stuart Townsend

** quote from "As Silver Refined" by Kay Arthur

*****