HOPE and THANKSGIVING

This Sunday at church I have been asked to work in our children's ministry to fill for a teacher out of town for the Thanksgiving holiday.   Our lesson this week is on Hope.   I generally haven't spent much time thinking about the word hope or for that matter what hope really means.  I've seen billboards all around town recently with the word HOPE spelled out.  How many times do I say,  "I hope the weather will be nice tomorrow, I hope my children will get their schoolwork done, I hope that this year will be easier financially for our family," these are all things I "hope for."    I find that I need hope. Hope to me is often a kissing cousin to worry.   I hope something will turn out this way or that, but am I really worrying that the outcome I want to happen is disguised as hope???  

In Romans 8:24 - 25 and 28 the Bible says, "We were saved with this hope in mind.  If we hope for something we already seen, it's not really hope.  Who hopes for what can be seen?  But if we hope for what we don't see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance....We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God -- those whom he has called according to his plan."  I found comfort in these verses this week as we buried my grandfather of 97 years.  I had hoped he might live to be 100 but that was not what God had for him.  I have hope of the promise that I will see my grandfather again because of Jesus' death on the cross and the promise of salvation and eternal life.   I can have hope because I have Jesus.  My grandfather had hope despite his circumstances because he knew Jesus.  Jesus has given us his Holy Spirit which is a reason for continued hope as we experience his presence in our lives today and also in the future.    I am so thankful that I had this lesson on HOPE this week to study.   I had been so discouraged and didn't realize just how hard it was going to be to say goodbye to my grandfather, but God showed me that I can persevere and He is with me.   Thanksgiving will now be a time of HOPE for me as I look back at God's faithfulness to my family and to me this year.