Day 40
Wait until the End of the Story
Even if I thought there was still hope for me…the Lord’s hand has gone out against me! [Ruth 1:12–13]
Naomi spoke these words when she couldn’t envision anything but a miserable future. Having lost her husband — and then her two sons — she loses hope in God as well.
Just how essential is hope?
I came across a fascinating story about the town of Flagstaff, Maine. In the 1940s demand for hydroelectric power was so great the state decided to redirect a river into the valley where Flagstaff stood for 100 years. Flagstaff was a picturesque New England village with lovingly maintained homes and shops. But as soon as word spread about the town being flooded, all repairs stopped. What’s the use of painting a house that’s going to end up under water? Week by week the whole town became more bedraggled — broken windows, littered streets, overgrown yards. Flagstaff didn’t die when the waters came. Flagstaff died the day it lost hope.
That’s why it’s so important to keep renewing your hope, whether it’s in your relationship with God or another person. When does any relationship become neglected? When there’s no hope! The weeds set in, the paint starts to peel, and eventually we think: “There’s nothing here worth saving.”
Naomi said as much. But like we often do, Naomi speaks before knowing how the story ends! And when God blesses her with a new family and future through her daughter-in-law Ruth, Naomi’s bitterness is replaced by joy! With Naomi doting on her new grandson, her friends say, Praise be to the Lord…He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age.
[Ruth 4:14–15]
Remember Naomi the next time you feel like you’ve lost hope. You may not know what God has in store — but He does! And because God is in your future, you always have a reason to hope.
Question to Consider
Write down a time in your life when you felt hopeless. What do you know now that you didn’t know then? What is sapping your hope now? What do you know about God that can renew your hope today?
Prayer
Lord, please renew my hope today. Help me to take encouragement from the fact that You are my reason to hope.
