Day Twenty Nine - The World Needs Hope

Never has there been a time when the whole world has needed hope like now!

As we enter Advent this year it is probably going to be a very different Advent than we have known before. But with Advent comes HOPE – hope for us, for the world, and for peace. This Advent we need to have hope - hope for the future. If ever these words have held so much relevance it is now. God knows our situation and he also knows what we need.

“For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.”

Jeremiah 29:11

Throughout the Bible there are many references to hope, and we all probably have our favourite verses, that help to shore us up when things are difficult. One of my favourites is this verse in Jeremiah and I have often referred to it when the route ahead of me has been unclear or uncertain or when I have been facing something difficult. What verses do you turn to when the going gets tough?

If we didn’t have hope in our lives what would it be like? Can you imagine the world without hope? Quite a bleak thought! Hope gives us the ability to look forward, to think about things to come both in this world and in the next. It gives us the motivation to dare to think that things could be different and if things are going wrong to believe that there is an end to it in sight and things will get better. But hope needs to go hand in hand with trust in God, commitment to Him and with actions to make the necessary changes.

God gave us hope in the coming of Jesus. He gave us hope for a very different future, better than we could possibly envisage in the life to come. But we have a part to play in the way we live our lives and in our preparation for our life to come.

“And hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us”.

Romans 5:5

Amazingly we are on the cusp of a number of potential vaccines that will hopefully start to put the world on a more even keel, and although we need to give thanks to the researchers around the world who have worked together to a degree to get us to this point, we also need to remember God’s role in this in being the enabler of such a breakthrough.

This Advent people in our congregations and in our community need hope, and we all have a responsibility to ensure that we help those around us, so let us pray…..

Loving God,

As we enter this time of Advent, we praise you,

And give thanks for this time of preparation,

We come to you with anticipation,

Reflection and an element of challenge;

Help us to use this time constructively,

To be aware of those around us,

And to take this time to do not only what we think we should be doing,

But to do what is right,

Hear our prayer and guide us.

Thank you loving God. Amen

Kathy Shaw