As I was reading during my Quiet Time this morning, I ran across a word that appears to be missing in our world, and specifically, in so many lives today.  You can find the word throughout the Bible but hardly a more poignant reminder than Romans 5. Here is what it says: “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 give to us.” (vv.3-5)

See the word? H.O.P.E.  How many people do you know today who are without it? Many don’t see hope. They see despair. Cities burning. Protests still going on. People being killed. Crime escalating. Fighting. Division. Injustice. It is easy to give up hope that things will be better.

That would be human nature. It would be easy to feel like Jeremiah, Elijah, Micah and others who, at times, wanted to quit and give up. Habakkuk asked the question many of us ask, “How long, O Lord, how long?” (1:2)

We can choose despair or hope. As a Christ-follower, I have a hope others don’t. It is a hope that does not put us to shame, does not disappoint. We are never left alone. Even in the darkest times, we have a light that shines.

“Father, thank you for hope that shines its light into the darkness of despair. Help me share the hope I have in You with others.”