Hope is a vital ingredient. Imagine if you had no hope that this corona virus craziness would ever end. Imagine being laid off from your job with no hope of ever being hired back. Imagine trying to pour years of wisdom into your grandkids lives with no hope that they would ever grasp or understand, or having an infant child with no hope that the sleepless nights would ever end, or being stuck in school with no hope that the end-of-day bell would ever ring. Hope is an essential ingredient for every aspect of life. Big or small, special or mundane, serious or minor – hope is vital.
But there is one type of hope that is more vital than all the rest. One hope that sustains and gives value and strength to all. It is the hope that everything we are, do and experience is for a good reason. It’s the hope that, in the end, every battle we face or will one day endure, is absolutely worth it.
Does that sound too good to be true? Well, for those who do not believe in Jesus, it is too good to be true. Proverbs 11:7 says, “When a wicked man dies, his expectation will perish. And the hope of the unjust perishes.” Now it’s important to remember that the wicked man isn’t referring to just the Hitler’s of this world. It’s referring to anyone today who has not placed their faith in Jesus as their Lord and Savior. In the end, all their hopes will perish. All their health, financial, and emotional progress will be useless as they enter into the eternal punishment that God has promised all unrepentant sinners.
On the contrary though, for those who have placed their faith and hope in the Lord, Jesus Christ, Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.” That means, for the Christian, every health, financial, emotional and spiritual issue we are facing is being worked together for good by the sovereign God. In other words, for the believer, there is hope in every situation, all the time.
When family members pass, when people hurt us, when the world is freaking out over the corona virus – Romans 8:28 may seem like a fairy tale. But it is the truth.
The passing of my mother was one of the most difficult times of my life, but ultimately it led me to depend on the Lord in an astronomically greater way than I did before. It led me to study what the Scripture says concerning heaven, take it seriously, and proclaim it boldly. It opened doors to counsel and serve others with a deeper compassion and empathy than I could or would have had before.
In regards to God’s sovereignty, this situation with the coronavirus is no different. This is just another strand in the tapestry of the Christian’s life that God will work together along with everything else to produce a beautiful picture that in the end, we would never change.
If you are not a believer in Jesus, here me clearly. Nothing is worth it. But today everything can be. You can trust in Jesus as the Son of God who died on the cross to pay for your sin and rose from the grave. Today you can have hope in Christ that everything is worth it!
Today, if you are a believer, don’t complain and don’t let fear dictate your decisions. Instead, thank God and take this whole coronavirus situation as an opportunity to share the hope you have in Christ. Look for opportunities to love and serve others and let the hope and assurance you have shine in a world ridden with uncertainty. Seek to bring glory to God in the good times and bad, because ultimately we know, it is all worth it!
– Pastor John
