Hope

The numbness wrapped around my heart. I was tired of thinking, tired of feeling, tired of not feeling. The room was filled with a blinding light. My head was swimming in the cacophony of voices all around me. Suddenly, a wave swept over my body and knocked me off my feet. I struggled as I felt myself going under. I gasped for air each time my head broke above the water. I had no voice, but, with an upraised hand, my heart cried, “Save me”. In an instant, the flood waters drained out from under me, bringing me hard to my knees. I coughed up the water that had threatened to fill my lungs.

Then, I saw there, just ahead of me, a pair of bare feet marked with wounds from nails. I lifted my head to see Him standing there, my Lord, shining gloriously, with a smile on His face! I bowed my head. I could think of nothing to say, although a million words swirled in my mind. At that moment, I felt a cool breeze come close to my ear and whisper one word: Hope. The word drifted through my head and made its way to my heart where it took root. Hope!

Pull back the curtain. What do you see? There is a little girl and a little boy embracing each other with laughter. There are tears in their eyes. It is uncertain as to whether these are from pure joy or from an underlying piece of regret from a past life nearly forgotten. They linger in each other’s arms; they seem to forget the world around them. Finally, they fly apart, conversing excitedly at once. Now they clasp hands and run off, down the hillside, toward a celestial city on the horizon reaching from the clouds down to the Earth.

Here is our Hope, for this we live and breath and carry on; for this promise we continue through the filth of the battle that currently rages around us. Salvation. Eternal Life. No more sorrow. No more pain. No more death. No more fear. No more insecurities. Healing. Restoration. Resurrection. Life in the presence of God forever! This is Hope. This is the promise given to us on Easter morning!

We’re not like those who have no hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13). We have a living hope (1 Peter 1:3), a hope of eternal salvation that does not disappoint us (Romans 5:5). Faith is the substance of this hope, perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses (Hebrews 11:1 AMPC).

No matter how you do or do not feel, this truth is real. This Easter, cling to your Risen Lord, by Faith. He IS Risen, Indeed!