Hope!

Hope!

For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope and overflow with confidence in His promises.
ROMANS 15:4 AMP

The Bible has got a lot of stories to tell. They speak of God's plan and man's plans; they speak of the earth's foundations as well as man's origins; they outline God's plan of redemption and salvation for the whole human race, and also details where everything all points to. You read of men and women and their search for meaning and direction. In all, one thing is clear: there is nothing in the Bible that is just there for fun; every thread holds a lesson, and every piece is a part of something eternal.

How do you explain David, a young man who was not even considered important by his father; yet became the defining point of his father's house, till today? How do you explain Ruth, a Moabitess, who God had excluded from the assembly of Israel, yet by her choice to follow Naomi, became part of the earthly genealogy of Jesus Himself? How do you explain how Hezekiah, maybe one of the best kings of Judah, fathered Manasseh, arguably one of the worse kings of Judah? How did Judas Iscariot witness all the great signs and wonders when following Jesus, yet, because of greed and love of money, waste his life?

Not all of these stories had happy endings, but one thing is clear: the ones which did had a distinct flavour: God was involved in their lives. Some didn't even know who he was by virtue of the circumstances of their birth, but when they heard about Him, they opened up to Him, and he changed their lives. That's the essence of today's extract: hope that only a touch from God can birth and sustain. It doesn't matter how you start; it is important how you end.

God wants to be involved in my life, but He won't force Himself on me. I have got to give Him access, so He can start, polish and perfect all that concerns me. He alone has the power to birth and sustain that hope, because the roots of the hope lie in Him and the end of all hope also lie in Him. Do you have Him? Does He know you as His own? His time of favour is here.