THE WORD OF GOD PROVIDES US HOPE

Romans 15:4 says, "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." The Bible is the source of our hope in times of struggle and hardship. Corrie ten Boom, a Dutch Christian who helped hide and save Jewish people from the Nazis, was arrested and sent to a concentration camp. She and her sister, Betsie, had a small, smuggled Bible. They held secret Bible studies with other women in their barracks, and all of them found hope in the Bible while they were being abused, tortured, and put in inhumane conditions. Corrie recounted how, despite the horrifying conditions and the infestation of fleas, Betsie found hope by recalling the verses 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, which says, "Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." They even found a way to be thankful for the fleas, which they later realized kept the guards from coming into their barracks, allowing them to continue their Bible studies undisturbed.

If we are relying on our own reasoning, strength, and material possessions to give us hope in our problems and struggles, we will eventually run out of hope because those things perish. Many Jews gave up in the concentration camp because of false hope. According to Primo Levi, a concentration camp survivor, those who held onto a naive or misplaced hope were often the first to give up when reality shattered their illusions. As believers in our Lord Jesus, our hope is not in ourselves or in this world, but it is in the promises of God in the Bible. I always have a Bible on my bedside table because as long as I have the Word of God, I will always have hope going through any difficulties that I face, because God's promises are true. I hold them dearly in my heart, like Corrie ten Boom and her sister, Betsie. The Bible is not something that we keep, but we read and believe everything that it says because it is the Word of God.

Our hope is always found in God; therefore, His Word, the Bible, is the source of our hope in difficult times. The Word of God gives us hope in every circumstance that we are in. We must read, study, learn, meditate, and memorize the Word of God to find hope and assurance for our lives. 

Questions for application: (Think through these questions carefully, meditate on them while answering them, and let the Spirit of God speak to you.) Why is the Word of God an important source of hope? Do I trust in myself or the things that I have more than I trust in God? Is it a false hope to trust in myself? Why?

Take a moment to write down all your worries today. Then, lift them to God in prayer, surrendering them to His will and trusting in His guidance.

Prayer:

Dear Father in Heaven, Thank you for your word; it is the source of my hope. Your promises are true, and I can completely trust them. Please protect me from having false hope, especially when it is tempting me to trust in my own understanding, strength, and material possessions. Please help me to always look up to you to face the difficulties in my life. In your name, Jesus, I pray. Amen.