Immune to fear
Day 24: Anchored by Hope
Due to the Coronavirus, in just a short span of time, the entire world has had to adjust to a new lifestyle of being quarantined. Everyone has been affected by the changes in our societies. We have experienced event cancelations, restaurant and business closings, school closings, mandatory absences from the workplace, and adjusting to “attending” church online at home in our pajamas. Even the stores that remain open look a lot different than before this crisis. Entire sections of market shelves, that used to be fully stocked with everything from toilet paper to ketchup, are being found empty.
Indeed, we have discovered many new inconveniences, but we have also discovered that we can live without a lot of things! The luxuries that our lives sometimes revolve around may often inadvertently be regarded as vital, but the truth is, it’s not a matter of life or death if we don’t go out to dinner, see the latest blockbuster movie, or spring for that epic new jacket — it won’t make or break us. Even necessities like food and water can be sidestepped under the right circumstances — a case in point is fasting either for health considerations or biblical pursuits.
However, there is one thing we cannot live without under any circumstances…hope! Hope is so fundamentally vital to our inner man, that if we cannot find true hope, we will default by nature to grasp on to false hope. To hope is to be human. God has woven the need to hope in Him, into the tapestry of our heart. And because we are hard-wired to hope in this way, those who don’t know God will revere something they perceive as greater than themselves and place their hope in it. It may be money, a dream, prestige, or even another person, but as sure as the night is dark, we will find something to hope in. Yet, in God’s deep abiding love, He longs for us to hope in Him as any other hope is built on a lie that will deceive and ultimately betray our trust in it.
In His Word, the Lord chronicles the vast extent of the hope He has brought into our relationship with Him, from His mercy to His coming. There are many scripture passages that express the heart of God in the many ways He yearns for us to hope in Him.
We hope in His Mercy:
“My soul still remembers and sinks within me. This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope. Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. Theyare new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I hope in Him!” (Lamentations 3:20-24)
“Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His mercy.” (Psalm 33:18)
“Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us, just as we hope in You.” (Psalm 33:22)
“But I have trusted in Your mercy; my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.” (Psalm 13:5)
We hope in His Word:
“Those who fear You will be glad when they see me, because I have hoped in Your word.” (Psalm 119:74)
“Uphold me according to Your word, that I may live; and do not let me be ashamed of my hope.” (Psalm 119:116)
“But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’” (Matthew 4:4)
“You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in Your word.” (Psalm 119:114)
We hope in His Unfailing Love:
“The Lord your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.” (Zephaniah 3:17)
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
“As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.” (John 15:9-10)
“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)
I pray you are encouraged and strengthened by these promises from God’s word today. These are just a few— there are thousands more! We believe, in the midst of uncertain times, we can remain anchored in His love, anchored in His Word, and anchored in Him. We can rest in the knowledge that hope in His promises will never let us down, and always lift us up, bringing us even closer to Him.
Source: (God’s Promises for Healing & Hope pg. 45-72)
