Hopeful Thanksgiving

 

Last week in our small group, we had a discussion about prayer. We read a question asking, “What can you thank God for?” The obvious answers came out: “everything.” But diving deeper, we would think of the many physical life blessings God has given us. The next question was regarding what we had studied in previous weeks, “What else can we thank God for?” Here some mentioned salvation, spiritual security… hope.

           I have been thinking about hope a lot in the past few months. We live in a world that feels very hopeless at times. Maybe even more often than not. There is discouragement, grief, darkness, hatred filling hearts and lives all around us. Lost people living lifeless lives.

           How thankful I am for the hope we have. And really this hope covers so much ground.

           It covers our daily struggles. The days when it is hard to wake up and get out of bed. Because we are NOT alone. Never alone. We have a constant friend who has experienced the hurts and the emotions we go through, while without sin.

          It covers the trials that we feel may overwhelm us. We face days, months, weeks of insecurity, fear, loss, hurt, difficulty. And yet, we know that God will use what we are going through for His glory and our good. These trials produce endurance, character and hope.

           It covers the future, what comes after this life. This world is not our home, but Jesus is preparing a place for us. A place with no more death, mourning, crying, or pain. We have hope because Jesus has bridged the gap for us. He has redeemed the dust. We walk toward glory every day. HE is our hope.

           A favorite song of mine was sung last Sunday in church. Voices raised together proclaiming these truths. It’s hard not to include the whole song, but for the sake of space I’ll leave you with a few stanzas and the chorus. “Jesus Christ My Living Hope” by Phil Wickham:

 

How great the chasm that lay between us

How high the mountain I could not climb

In desperation, I turn to heaven

And spoke your name into the night

 

Then through the darkness, Your lovingkindness

Tore through the shadows of my soul

The work is finished, the end is written

Jesus Christ, my living hope

 

Hallelujah, praise the One who set me free

Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me

You have broken every chain

There’s salvation in your name

Jesus Christ, my living hope

 

 

--Sandy Gromacki