Remember
Another rat scurried by as thoughts of hopelessness filled his mind. Hungary and dirty, he leaned back on the cold wall and closed his eyes. His heart felt empty as hopeless thoughts echoed deep within him. It had been thirteen years since he had left home. Thirteen years. The words, “I will never get out of this prison,” almost came out of his mouth, but he caught them before they escaped. Suddenly, like fireworks in his spirit, he was consumed with God’s presence, extinguishing every hopeless thought. “Never give up. Hope never dies. Never give up!” the voice of God spoke. “I showed you the future; I gave you the dream. Remember. Remember! REMEMBER!”
Suddenly as quickly as those thoughts raced through his mind, a sound of marching footsteps echoed down the hall, stopping at the door to his cell. One of the guards started yelling even before the door was unlocked. “Get up. Come quickly. The King requires your presence.” In the blink of an eye, Joseph was forever changed. He left the prison, never to return. His dreams all came true just like God said they would because hope never dies.
As I remember that story, my heart is singing a song of hope. It’s a variation of the old song that says, “what the world needs now is love sweet love,” only the version in my heart sings, “what the world needs now is hope sweet hope.” I need hope, and you need hope. The whole world needs hope. Much of the media portrays a message of fear. Everything seems hopeless, but we are not people without hope. We are blessed and empowered to live our lives filled with eternal hope.
Some of you have dreams for your life that seem so very far away. While the world has hit the “pause” button, many are feeling like giving up. “What’s the use in believing any more?” they ask. “Everything is gone. All is lost. “But the Holy Spirit is singing over us. He is calling us to hope again. Hope for the future. Hope for your family. Hope sweet hope, that gentle strength built upon little stones of faith, eventually building a wall that is not easily broken. Joseph extinguished every hopeless thought, never giving up, and he realized his dream come true.
How about you? Haven, you been tempted to give up? Don’t! Don’t allow the devil to steal your dream. Don’t let anything defeat you and take away your hope. God has a plan. While we may not understand what is going on, this does not diminish the fact that God has given us his word, a living hope that never dies, and HE is faithful.
1Peter 1:3
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. ESV