This morning as I was reading Romans 4, I was drawn particularly to the end of the chapter. It’s where Paul is talking about Abraham and his faith. It says,
Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” -Romans 4:18
I was really drawn to the word hope. In another translation, the verse opens with “In hope he believed against hope…” That really stuck out to me.
After I was done reading that, I was led to The Resurgence where there was a recent article titled “What Is Happening In Colorado? Where is God?” It would seem my theme for today was hope.
I don’t think it’s necessarily for me in this season, but maybe there’s someone out there reading this right now that needs to hear it. For that person, I tell you– hold on to hope. This is not the end. It does get better. The story is not over. Jesus has more in store for you. So kick hopelessness in the face, and hope anyways!
Take some time to read Romans chapter 4, and pray for someone who needs hope right now.
Well said, Dustin. I pray that someone out there reading this will find the encouragement they need to keep on going. Sometimes we never know just who we might be reaching with our words.
Thanks Roger, it turns out you are right!
BTW… do you have a Gravatar?
Hi Dustin,
You are quite correct in that it was for someone who needed it. It was me.
I’m so glad Lya! God has a plan, and you’re a key part in it– don’t let anything convince you otherwise! Kick hopeless circumstances in the face!
Very true, Dustin!
The devil doesn’t ave any power over our lives. All he can try is to discourage us, so we won’t hold on to God’s promises. I actually put very similar thoughts into this short encouraging video and it already got 40,000 hits on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MQQKOqobDg&feature=plcp
I’ll share your awesome graphic with a link back to this post with on my Facebook pages!
Thanks Daniel!
That verse has always intrigued me… that against all hope, he still hoped. When all the odds were against him and it seemed there was no way things would get better, he hoped. What a powerful thing hope is!
Indeed!