Strong spirits: hope
God has an unlimited supply.
Faith is believing a man can push a wheelbarrow across a chasm on a tight rope. Trust is when you jump into the wheelbarrow for the ride. And hope is what you cling to desperately until you get out on the other side!
Hope is critical to our well-being. It has its source in love: "Love always hopes" (1 Corinthians 13:7) and is closely related to faith: "To have faith is to be sure of what we hope for, to be certain of the things we cannot see." (Hebrews 11:1) Without hope we are doomed to despair. The world is full of it, because so few have hope, or have put their hope in the wrong place: money, power, politics, etc.
God is the source of hope, and so it's where we need to draw our hope from. He has an unlimited supply and is so willing to share it with all who call on him and trust in him. Don't despair another minute. Put your hope in God.
Besides serving as pastor at Caledonia Congregational Church, Gary Schwerin is the Spiritual Development Minister for the YMCA of the Rock River Valley and Executive Director of Bridge Ministries of Rockford. Prior to launching Bridge Ministries, Gary spent many years in leadership with Young Life. His columns appear here every Sunday - to see them all, subscribe to our daily email.
