But now, God’s Message,
    the God who made you in the first place, Jacob,
    the One who got you started, Israel:
“Don’t be afraid, I’ve redeemed you.
    I’ve called your name. You’re mine.
When you’re in over your head, I’ll be there with you.
    When you’re in rough waters, you will not go down.
When you’re between a rock and a hard place,
    it won’t be a dead end—
Because I am God, your personal God,
    The Holy of Israel, your Savior.
I paid a huge price for you:
    all of Egypt, with rich Cush and Seba thrown in!
That’s how much you mean to me!
    That’s how much I love you!
I’d sell off the whole world to get you back,
    trade the creation just for you. Isaiah 42

Hope is a word that keeps coming up in my life lately. We all have something we are going through, no one’s life is not touched with some sort of pain or hardship. Life is not easy, the older I get the more I know that. But recently as I have pondered the hardships in my own life a message keeps coming up, one of hope. We may not be the place we want to be yet, but there is hope. There is always hope. Proverbs 13:12 says, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.” If you don’t have hope, your heart is sick. I don’t want a sick heart, but I have had one a time or two. When I choose to look at my circumstances instead of the hope I have in Christ, my heart becomes sick with worry and dread. There is a song that is playing on the radio lately that I just love, it’s called I have this Hope by Tenth Avenue North. Here and some of the lyrics.

As I walk this great unknown
Questions come and questions go
Was there purpose for the pain?
Did I cry these tears in vain?

I don’t want to live in fear
I want to trust that You are near
Trust Your grace can be seen
In both triumph and tragedy

I have this hope
In the depth of my soul
In the flood or the fire
You’re with me and You won’t let go

But sometimes my faith feels thin
Like the night will never end
Will You catch every tear
Or will You just leave me here?

But I have this hope
In the depth of my soul
In the flood or the fire

So, whatever happens I will not be afraid
Cause You are closer than this breath that I take
You calm the storm when I hear You call my name
I still believe that one day I’ll see Your face

I have this hope. I have hope, if I believe in Jesus, someday I will see His face and all the tears and tragedy of this life will wash away. I have this hope. I have to cling to this hope in order to get through the trials of this life. There are times when things are going well and I forget. But when things aren’t going as I planned or tragedy strikes, I must remember I have hope. Remember today, whatever you are going through right now, it may seem dark, like the morning will never come and there is no hope, but there is hope. God is our HOPE and we must hold to him knowing the situation may not be good but He is good. We have hope.