hope in Christ

…so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.

Ephesians 1:12

As this year winds down I will inevitably reflect on the way 2023 has massively changed my experience. The one big thing though that has not changed and will never change is captured in this prayer of Paul’s: hope in Christ. In that hope I am secure. And the big lesson… the great experience of this past year has been my renewed hope in Jesus Christ. As one new and precious voice has so aptly and graciously been used by God to show me: “God… certainty amid our uncertainties.”

I have real hope. I have known a peace in the raging fury of the storm. I have felt His presence in my aloneness. I have known His mercies in my confusion, anger, doubt, and disbelief. I feel His grace pour over my sins, inabilities, paralysis, and failures. I know His comfort in my loss. I have known how God’s truth has confronted the lies I have believed about my life and this world. His strength has carried me in my weakness. His power has enabled me to go on with each day. His touch heals my hurts. His hand provides all I need. His love fills my needy heart. Yes… I have hope ahead of me and it is all the work of Jesus Christ.

In quite another kind of prayer, Paul was convinced of hope: “…I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me…” (1 Timothy 1:12). Yes, I know Whom I have believed. Yes, I am convinced He will guard all I am, all I have, safely in Him until I too enter eternal dwellings safe in Him. This hope illuminates my view back on 2023 with perspective on the painful parts of the experience and the joy of Jesus right in the center of it all! It also shines a bright light on the mystery and adventure ahead in this coming year!

Lord Jesus,

It is to the praise of Your glory that I thank You for this certainty that You have centered my heart upon for this past year. And in hope of You I face a new year of expectation and confidence in You.

Amen