Day 3
Replace Anxiety with Hope
For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. [Romans 15:4]
There’s a lot of bad news in the world today. Anytime there’s a disaster anywhere on the planet, the media announce it instantly. You can’t get away from it: A plane has gone down, hostages have been taken, a gunman has gone berserk, an earthquake has occurred, poisonous gas has spilled. The availability of bad news is stunning, and it’s not just limited to matters of international importance. I will never forget watching TV and hearing a serious announcer intone over dramatic music via a multi-million-dollar satellite uplink: “CNN Breaking News… The marriage of Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt is over!”
Thanks to technology we receive so much more input than people did just 20 years ago, and this is probably why there’s a level of fear and anxiety in our society also unprecedented in history. In the past, only God was able to know as much bad news as we get every day, and I think still only God can really handle it!
As an antidote, bathe your mind in the Scriptures. In today’s passage, Paul says that everything that was written in the past was written so that we might have hope.
Everything? Really? How can every story about Moses or Job or Sarah or David or Samson give you hope, filled as they are with strange mistakes and sins and conflicts? Well, for one thing, they were all flawed people, people who made mistakes and had doubts and argued with God. Yet He used them because He is full of grace and love. That means there’s a future and a plan for you and me, too!
Question to Consider
How do I allow God to encourage me with hope through the Scriptures every day? Do I spend too much time reading or watching things that drain my hope? Do I look to Scriptures specifically to give me hope, or are they more of an academic exercise for me?
Prayer
Lord, thank You for giving me Scripture not just as a set of rules or as theological history, but in order that I might have hope!
