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Strength and Hope

In times of crisis or extreme suffering sometimes our minds also go to extremes, imagining the worst that could happen. The phone rings in the night and we wonder which child has been in an accident. The checking account is overdrawn and we imagine bankruptcy. The medical scan shows an unusual growth and we assume death is around the corner.

When Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw the stone had been removed, she assumed his body had been stolen. As Simon Peter and the other disciple went inside the empty tomb, Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. She could only imagine the worst.

When have you imagined the worst in your life? When have you faced a personal crisis and assumed all was lost?

Though each of us has encountered hardship, the older adults among us have all gone through times of intense crisis – times of terrible wars; times of economic hardship; times of social disruption; times of great suffering and loss. How did our elders get through those hard times?

Many will tell you of the strength of God’s presence with them as they endured the crisis. When you ask them the source of their hope, they remember how God carried them through difficult days. They may even quote the hymn, Great Is Thy Faithfulness, remembering God’s faithfulness in the past which gives them “strength for today, and bright hope for tomorrow.”

Today I encourage you to offer to God your prayers of remembrance and hope. Our hope comes when we remember God’s steadfast faithfulness in the past and the promise of God’s faithfulness in days to come.

Greg Smith
Director of Legacy Ministry
First Baptist Church of Decatur

Strength and Hope