HOPE

This is a word that has taken on significant meaning in my life over
the last year or so.  With so much uncertainty in life right now I find
myself looking ahead and “hoping” that things will get better.  But in
wrestling with my fear and worry, it has become clear to me that I may be
hoping in the wrong thing.  You see I am hoping that circumstances change,
that the future turns out the way I want it to, and that somehow hard times
turn to good times.  But circumstances will always bring challenges, my view
of the future is small and myopic, and good times are fleeting.  What I need
is to hope in  something or someone that never changes, that never goes out
of style, and that has nothing to do with me.  And so I find myself back
where my life started, in the grace of a big God who stoops to hold me all
of my life.  As I face the circumstances of life, as I rush into an unknown
future, and as I struggle through hard times I find that I want to be where
King David was when he wrote Psalm 4.

“Many are asking, "Who can show us any good?"
Let the light of your face shine upon us, O LORD.
You have filled my heart with greater joy
than when their grain and new wine abound.
I will lie down and sleep in peace,
for you alone, O LORD, 
make me dwell in safety.”
- Psalm 4:6-8

And so I live in HOPE.  I pray that you join me in a hope that looks like
Jesus and feels like grace.

- Pastor Kevin