The anchor of our hope

The anchor of our hope
By Jon Walker

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." (James 1:2-4, NIV)

God tells us in the Book of James that we can count it all joy when we go through trials and tribulations. He isn’t saying we have to be happy when we suffer a loss. Rather, we can have confidence that a just and loving and merciful Father is working everything out for the good of his perfect will – and we can rejoice because God uses moments of crisis to reveal where we have anchored our hope.

Have we anchored our hope in the circumstances that surround us? Or have we anchored our hope on nothing less that Jesus' blood and righteousness?

Several years ago my daughter, Kathryn, died, and my wife and I learned how easy it is - even as Christians - to become angry with God. We'd asked God to save Kathryn, and it seemed he didn’t answer our prayer.

But slowly … very slowly … we began to realize that our perspective was limited, that we'd placed our hope in an answer to prayer that we insisted was best rather than trusting in the character of God to answer the prayer as he saw best (Jer. 29:11).

We'd hung our hopes in the wrong place – until God reminded us that we serve a God of hope, and his hope will not disappoint. That is what we have to cling to no matter our circumstances. If, for a single moment, we think God isn't in control, then we've lost our focus; and we're making judgments without all the facts.

Paul told us that - because we have this tremendous hope inside - we shouldn't grieve our losses like other men. We believe Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe God will resurrect those in Christ who've been taken from us. And we're to encourage one another with these words of hope. After all, if our God is not a God in times of trouble, then he isn't a God at all.

Point to ponder: God is working all things – even the hardest of things – for your good.

Verse: "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." (James 1:2-4, NIV)

What will you do about it: Put your hope where it belongs: in Jesus. Don’t hope in circumstances, but in the God who holds your future in his hands.

Prayer: Ask God to pull your eyes from your situation and keep them focused on heaven. Ask him to fill you with hope and faith.