He is Our Hope
The LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.
Joel 3:16
The late British historian, Arnold Toynbee, gave his slogan to the world when he said, “Cling, and hope.” In other words, he says the storm is raging; all the ideals that we held a few years ago are crumbling; but he advised the human race to cling and hope.
However, there are thousands of people who day by day find refuge from the storms of life by their living faith in a living God!
To turn to God in an hour such as this in the history of the world is much more than a form of escapism. Multiplied thousands of normal, intelligent people have tried and proved that a vital relationship with Christ is the most satisfying experience in all the world. They have found that faith in Christ is more than adequate for the pressures of this hour.
The governor of an Eastern state told eight thousand people at a conference how faith in Christ had given him peace, security, and happiness. What Christ had done for this governor, Christ can do for you, if you surrender your will to Him.
Yet some who read these lines are held in the viselike grip of sin’s confusion. The despair of loneliness has settled down upon your soul, and at this very moment you are asking the question, “Is life worth living?”
To scores of people who write every week to our office in Charlotte, North Carolina life has ceased to be worth living. For all of them I have good news. God did not create us to be defeated, discouraged, frustrated, wandering souls, seeking in vain for peace of heart and peace of mind. He has bigger plans for us. The answer to our problem, however great, is as near as the Bible, as simple as first-grade arithmetic, and as real as one’s heartbeat.
The Bible says, “In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us” (Romans 8:37).
The Bible teaches that “Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith” (1 John 5:4).
Upon the authority of God’s Word, I declare that Christ is the answer to every baffling perplexity that plagues mankind. In Him is found the cure for care, a balm for bereavement, a healing for our hurts, and a sufficiency for our insufficiency.
Our Father and our God, my loneliness sometimes overwhelms me. I grope around in the darkness, looking for the light. Then I remember You, and the light of Your Word chases away my night. I know Your grace is sufficient for me, Lord. Give me Your peace in the middle of my troubles. Give me Jesus. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).