HOW CAN WE KNOW THERE IS HOPE DESPITE ALL THE CRISES
We know there is hope when we:
- Rely on God’s presence.
When we go through crises, we often pray and seek God more intensely than at other times. My greatest times of growth have been when I reached the end of my resources and all I have left is Jesus. God uses suffering to make us rely on his presence. In Psalm 23:4, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me”. David writes that he does not fear because God is with him. He relies on God’s presence, and it brings him strength and comfort. Remember that for there to be a shadow, there has to be a light. I don’t know what your “valley of the shadow of death” is, but I do know who the Light is that is walking with you in that valley.
- Rely onto Word of God.
Colossians 1:5-6 “because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel, which has come to you, just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth.
- Rely on God’s power
“He never grows tired or weary; He strengthens those who are weak and tired; those who trust in the Lord for help will find their strength renewed”. Isaiah 40:28-31 .In times of crises when we put our hope on the power of God, we surely come out of the crises victoriously. What is your weakness? Paul says he will boast in those things because when we are weak, the power of Christ rests on us. The greater the enemy comes at you, the greater Jesus is in you.
On what have you fixed your hope? Does your life prove it? Has it changed who you are, what you value, and what you are doing with your life? In Romans 5:3-5, Paul says that we can rejoice in our sufferings because we are a people of hope: “Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Rom. 5:3–5).
(BISHOP ISAAC I. OLUYAMO, PhD., JP, IS THE BISHOP OF IJESA NORTH ANGLICAN DIOCESE)