Building Hope on a Sure Foundation

If you’ve been paying attention to almost anything in the news lately, you may be feeling a little (or very) down. We’re paying lots to get things we use every day, to put food on the table, and to get to work. Many of us have lost loved ones to Covid or seen their health damaged after having it. Maybe your own health has been altered. If that’s not enough, we are watching a horrible situation in Ukraine. Often life seems like a crumbling brick wall. Some days, one brick falls. Some days, a whole pile comes down.

Then God sends us spring, an awesome reminder that He gives life and offers hope! Jewish people just celebrated Purim from sundown to sundown on March 16 and 17. This spring feast celebrates when God used Esther to deliver His people from almost certain destruction. It got me thinking about similarities with little Ukraine, where many are Jewish or Christian. God hasn’t changed. We can still pray to Him and hope in him.

But we all need some encouragement, even if we’re not facing war or death.  We also need to store up treasures of wisdom and God’s word for times in the future when we may face dire circumstances.  There is no shortage of material on hope.  I looked at mostly nonfiction books, but there are many uplifting fictional stories, movies, and music collections that will help your spirit soar.  Billy Graham wrote Hope for the Troubled Heart.  While he’s been gone for some time, I find that his writings usually seem like he wrote them just for today.  Why God?, Hope Again, and Come Before Winter are 3 books by Charles Swindoll.  This gentle man of God is always encouraging, even when that’s not his main objective.  

 I think women, especially mothers and those who care for others, often need an extra dose of hope.  They tend to care for the mundane things of life like stretching food budgets and buying clothes for growing kids.  They often do it alone or without recognition.  Ladies, pump up your spirits so you can lift up those around you!    I noticed Treasures for Women Who Hope by Alice Gray.  This is a collection of true stories with exercises and guidance for hopeful living. Life is Tough But God is Faithful by Sheila Walsh helps readers focus on God’s faithfulness in the midst of our challenges.  Hope…the Best of Things is a little devotional by Joni Eareckson Tada, who has found hope and happiness in Christ after a devastating accident destroyed all her dreams and created almost impossible obstacles.

And, of course, the Bible itself is a great read.  Or pick up a daily devotional book to give you a Biblical thought or truth to meditate upon each day.  Sometimes you see those decorative signs that say “Hope” or “Believe”.  But they never say in what to hope or believe.  We have to have an object and that object should be God!  Life is hard and I wonder how I will deal with devastating circumstances when they hit.  I “hope”  to shore myself up for the future and find encouragement for the present with some good books.    

Reading is Rewarding!

Katie

Request the following titles from the Family Vision Library here:

Hope for the Troubled Heart, by Billy Graham

Why God? by Charles Swindoll

Hope Again, by Charles Swindoll

Come Before Winter, by Charles Swindoll

Treasures for Women Who Hope, by Alice Gray

Life is Tough but God is Faithful, by Sheila Walsh

Hope… the Best of Things, by Joni Eareckson Tada

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