Hope?

Our story is about suffering leading to hope. It is not about skirting suffering and it is not about achieving perfection by our own deeds. We, as Christians, live in an "in-between" world.

Doing the right thing often leads to suffering. Just being human often leads to suffering. If not now, soon enough.

And we chase dreams. Life is the chase and even the chase can produce suffering. If we catch a dream, we dream more. But, most of the time, we trust things will be better. God is the author of hope.

Part of maturity is to see hope in the suffering, as Jesus did. The hope comes from the fact that God cares. Period. Hope is a life force because it is not yet realized and yet we know it will come to pass.

It has been a rough few weeks (and two years.) God is up to something. You are a part of it. Trust this with all your life.

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. Romans 5:1-5