March 18, 2006
Newsletter Archives

With government cutbacks being handed out, most people are feeling quite a bit of insecurity. Two areas of concern that surface regularly in conversation are job security and affordable and adequate health care. Because security springs from hope, if the future looks bleak, hope begins to die. The indissoluble union of security and hope are as old as recorded history. In one of the oldest books in the Bible we read “…and thou shalt be secure, because there is hope.” Job 11:18.
For some, hope is in the critical care unit right now with a very weak pulse. To others, whose lives seem to be smooth sailing, this might seem to be an exaggeration. But there are quite a number whose hopelessness seems to have sunk into a resigned apathy.
Yet, if we are going to have hope that will not die, it must come from something unchangeable. And the only unchangeable thing is an unchangeable Person: the God of hope. Writing to the Christians in Rome, Paul wrote: “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, in the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13. Hope abounds when we have our eye fixed on God.
While present conditions and experiences are very important to us, they only last for a few years. We will survive them. Christians in Bible times frequently faced the loss of all their possessions because of persecution. Their faith was tested. The writer to the Hebrews encouraged some who were suffering such losses with the words, “..be content with such things as ye have: for He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.” Hebrews 13:5,6.
Of course, we all live with a desire for material security now. There’s nothing wrong with that. Yet, as life becomes a little more uncertain, it is a real blessing to know that some things can never change. When life looked bleak at the end of the Old Testament, The Lord told His people, “I am the Lord, I change not…” Malachi 3:6. Hope in God is not affected by the weather of daily life.

Russ Nesbit

P.S. We just returned today from a wonderful week in Florida vacationing with our family. However, the old adage is true: “Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home.