With Great Peril All Around, There Is Hope

There is no doubt, there is much danger in this world all around. Violence is everywhere. Hazards are the norm. Lockdowns are practiced because they are predicted to be required. The vulnerability of all mankind is mounting. From the young to the old, there is isolation and swarming fear. Is there hope in such horrific times as these?

There is hope for the Christian. These lyrics say it best. Read them and the supplemented scriptures. Think about them. Appreciate them. Live them.

My Hope Is Built
Written by Edward Mote, 1797-1874

My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

When Darkness veils his lovely face,
I rest on his unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale,
my anchor holds within the veil.

His oath, his covenant, his blood
supports me in the whelming flood.
When all around my soul gives way,
he then is all my hope and stay.

When he shall come with trumpet sound,
O may I then in him be found!
Dressed in his righteousness alone,
faultless to stand before the throne!

Refrain:
On Christ the solid rock I stand,
all other ground is sinking sand;
all other ground is sinking sand.

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
I Corinthians 5:20

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16

Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God. Psalm 42:11

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, . . .we shall be changed.
I Corinthians 15:52

Everyone … who hears these words … and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. . . . rain fell, . . . floods came, . . .winds blew . . ., but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. Matthew 7:24-25

Did you find the hope? It is in Christ alone. He has bought our approval by God. It doesn’t matter if no one approves of our opinions now. It doesn’t matter that we don’t approve of other’s opinions. Our hope is built on our approval before God Almighty by the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Savior!

Another source of hope is prayer. The grace of God is available to us as we come boldly before God, behind the veil, into the most Holy place; God’s presence. We can find the compassion of God to be near to us to help us in the circumstances that are perilous in these last days. We can come with confidence to find Him ready and eager to hear our every request and stretch out His arm at just the right time to help. His arm is not short nor His hand weak to help us.

We proclaim our hope as we praise God despite our circumstances. David had very deteriorating circumstances. He counseled his own heart to “hope in God” and he told himself to “again praise him” for God alone was his deliverance out of the trauma he was enduring. Let us learn from and practice the pattern of this man after God’s own heart.

Look up, your redemption is about to be seen. The King is coming. We hope with eager expectation that at any moment the trumpet of the Lord shall sound and time shall be no more! When the days are the darkest, look the hardest. Don’t lose hope, the eastern sky will split and our Savior will rescue us. Keep looking, keep watching. It won’t be long. That is our hope. That is the real “change” we all need!

In the meantime, we wait and stand. When we’ve done everything to stand, we . . . .STAND! Let us keep our eyes regularly in the pages of Scripture. May we always keep our ears and thoughts undistracted from the loving words of the Bible. Always allow the Spirit of God to teach us how to live in this evil, godless world. The storms are here, the wind is whipping, and the floods are rising. Let us never forget to do all that is written in the book to do it. That is how we are safe standing on the solid rock!