Good evening Brothers, Sisters and children,

Today I would be giving you all a thought on hope. What is hope?

Hope is looking forward to something good, something better or the eagerness to perform better. I can say ‘ I hope to do well in the exams or I hope to do well in the interview or again I hope to do well in my job or also I hope to do something in life’. We also wish our friends ‘Hope everything goes well for you on your journey or the task you are undertaking’ and also address a sick person ‘Hope you get better again’. Hope is not a granted wish or a favor performed. It can mean differently to different people and again differently for the same person in different situations. But the underlining word is HOPE.

Put in another way hope is an unpredictable, illogical dependence on God. It is one of the precious gifts that God has given mankind. Without hope no one can survive in this world. Hope opens doors where despair closes them. Hope discovers what can be done instead of grumbling about any situation. Hope means you no longer a prisoner of what you have or not have done. Hope looks for the good in people instead of harping on the worst in them

Whatever may be your background, hope pays the way for a better future.

We do not understand joy – until we face sorrow,

We do not understand faith – until we are tested,

We do not understand peace – until we are faced with conflict,

We do not understand trust – until we are betrayed,

We do not understand love – until we loose it,

We do not understand hope – until we are desperate.

I will tell you of a story about a man named Jack. He was hiking one day when he accidentally got too close to the edge of a cliff and fell. On the way down he grabbed a branch, which temporarily stopped his fall. He looked down and to his horror saw that the valley fell straight down for hundreds of feet. He could not hold on to the branch forever and there was no way he could climb up the cliff. So Jack began yelling for help HOPING that someone passing by would hear him, lower down a rope and rescue him. "HELP ! HELP! " he yelled for hours, but no one heard him. Just as he was going to give up he heard a voice.

Jack, Jack. Can you hear me?

Yes! Yes! I can hear you. I’m down here!

I can see you Jack. Are you alright!

Yes, but … Who are you and where are you?

I am the Lord Jack. I’m everywhere.

The Lord? You mean God?

Yes Jack, that’s me.

God, please help me! I promise if You’ll get me down from here I’ll stop sinning. I’ll be a really good person. I’ll serve You for the rest of my life.

Easy on the promises, Jack. Lets just get you down from there; then we can talk. Now, here’s what I want you to do. Listen carefully.

I’ll do anything, Lord. Just tell me what to do.

Okay.  Let go of the branch.

WHAT?

I said Jack, let go of the branch. Just trust ME. Let go.

There was a long silence. Finally Jack yelled, " HELP ! HELP! IS ANYONE ELSE UP THERE?

Even if it burns a little low at times, the secret of life is to always keep the flame of hope alive.

I shall tell you another story of a man named George.  Walking one day along the road, he fell into an open pit.  It was quite a deep pit and he could not get out.

A Pharisee came along and said " Only bad people fall into a pit" and walked away

An Objective logical thinking person came along and said

"Its logical that someone would fall down there as it is uncovered" and walked away

An emotional person came along and said "I feel for you down there" and walked away.

A mathematician calculated how he fell into the pit

A news reporter wanted an exclusive story about the pit

A self pitying person said " You haven’t seen anything until you have seen my pit"

A fundamentalist said " You deserve the pit"

A tax officer asked if he was paying taxes on the pit

A Charismatic said "Just confess that you are in the pit"

An optimist said "Things could have been worse"

A pessimist said " Thing will get worse"

Jesus seeing the man, took him by the hand and LIFTED him out of the pit.

1 Peter 1 verses 3 to 5 says ‘Because of His great mercy He gave us new life by raising Jesus Christ from death. This fills us with a living hope, and so we look forward to possessing the rich blessings that God keeps for His people. He keeps them for you in heaven, where they cannot decay or spoil or fade away. They are for you, who through faith are kept safe by God’s power for the salvation which is ready to be revealed at the end of time’.

Hebrews 6, verses 9 to 12 states "God is not unfair. He will not forget the work you did or the love you showed for Him in the help you gave and are still giving to your fellow Christians. Our great desire is that each one of you keep up his eagerness to the end, so that the things you hoped for will come true. We do not want you to become lazy, but to be like those who believe and are patient and so receive what God has promised.

We say we want to know the will of God. But when it is revealed we cannot handle it. It sound too scary, too difficult , too illogical. We then decide to look elsewhere. When he says " Let go of things that stand between you and ME and trust ME with your life", it sounds pretty scary. But when we let go, we find freedom and safety in His hands.

Hope can do wonders in you if you trust God.
 

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