Submitted by Tom Kline, Castlegar Baptist Church
“Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.” – Psalms 42:11
There are many things in life and in the world around us to cause our souls to be cast downward. Things that disquiet our hearts and fill them with anxiety. As we hear the nightly news, it sounds similar to Jesus’ description of the last days in Matthew 24: “And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars … For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.”
The unrest in the world makes it hard not to have unrest in ourselves. The cost of living, drug overdoses, political battles, natural disasters, not to mention personal and mental struggles, have left a lot of people feeling rather hopeless. However, there is a source of hope that is never insufficient, never failing, never ineffective.
Hope thou in God!
People grab for hope in many places. Some hope in money. “As long as there is money in my account; as long as I have this job, I’ll be okay.”
Some hope in other people. “As long as this person is in office. If I can just get to talk to this person. If I can see doctor so-and-so, he’ll know what to do.”
Most of us, hope in ourselves. The slogan of our age is, “I’ve got this!” or “You can do it.”
We hope in hope itself, “Just stay positive.”
The truth is, we all do find comfort in those things. They actually are a source of hope. However, they all have one thing in common — they are fallible. They only last so long. They can only go so far.
Psalms 39 says, “Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Surely every man walketh in a vain show: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them. And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee.”
We are finite, and our resources are finite. There is only one infinite source of hope. Hope in God and you will yet praise Him, because He and He alone will never fail!
Tom Kline is the pastor of Castlegar Baptist Church.
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