Despite the promise of a New Year, hope can be elusive. Grief may linger over the death of a loved one. The rigorous demands of a job continue. Finances remain tenuous and bleak. Long-term illness may seem relentless. But there is hope.
Many biblical stories show hope. David felling Goliath with a slingshot. Pairs of animals coming to Noah to board the ark. Daniel surviving a den full of lions. Shadrach, Meshack, and Abednego walking unbound and unharmed in the fiery furnace. God parting the Red Sea to make a way for the Israelites and then closing it back over the Egyptians pursuing them. The impenetrable walls crumbling with a shout at Jericho. And God holding back the flood waters of the Jordan so that His people could cross into the Promised Land on dry ground.
God gives all these stories so we can learn how powerful and faithful He is and how He provides for His people as they follow Him.
May we take this encouragement with us into the New Year. Only with God will we have lasting hope.
Pray and ask God to teach and remind you of who He is and how He works. May He be your hope in this year ahead.
Sue Lane is a writer.