Hope When Life Hurts

 

“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” (I Peter 1:3)

 

As I listened to my elderly friend sharing on the phone, I was surprised by a sense of hope. She had just lost her husband of 67 years and the memorial service was the day before. As she acknowledged the deep valley of grief that she was walking through, she kept thanking God for his faithfulness and his goodness to them as a couple over the decades. “How can I complain when God has been so good?”

 

I had called to tell her that I was praying for her because I knew she was grieving, but instead she encouraged me. As I hung up the phone, I was reminded of these verses in 1 Peter. Peter is praising God for the living hope that we have in Christ Jesus, but then just a few verses further on he talks about suffering grief in all kinds of trials. “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.” (I Peter 1:6)

 

Paul reminds us of the same thing in Romans 5:2-5 when he says, “And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who he has given us.”

 

Whether our sufferings are physical, mental, emotional or relational,
God’s promise to us is that through his Son Jesus, we have hope in the midst of it all. Just like my friend, the grieving widow, you too can rejoice and be thankful that God is walking this journey with you, and he has not left you to deal with it on your own. He has given us his Holy Spirit to live in us, to fill us with joy and peace and yes, hope in the midst of our pain.

 

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you that I can praise you even when life hurts. My life is not without hope, because you truly have given me birth into that living hope that Peter talked about. Help me today to walk in step with your Holy Spirit so that I can truly experience the joy and peace that your Spirit wants to produce in my life. Amen

 

Throughout this Day:

Are you struggling to experience that hope that we are promised? Why not take the time to read this article to learn about how the Holy Spirit can truly make a difference in your life?(link to https://thelife.com/how-to-access-gods-power)