1 Peter 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ….
I remember the horror of 9/11, the confusion and fear, the constant loop of destruction on news feeds, the numbness as I wondered about the changed world I now lived in. I remember swaddling my newborn and sobbing at the destruction of Hurricane Katrina and man’s inhumanity to man in its wake. I have come again and again to the foot of the cross, crying out in fear, anger, and frustration, “Why, Lord? Why this? Why now? Why the lack of healing?”
1 Peter 1:4 …and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power….
This morning God reminds me once again that I won’t always understand, I won’t always have answers on this side of the veil, but what I do have, what I can cling to always, is His living hope. My hope in Him is not dead, not stagnant. It is vibrant and alive. It is delicate, verdant blooms, springing from charred earth. It is unbidden, profound kindness in the midst of despair and destruction.
1 Peter 1:6 In all of this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.
Lord, Thank You for this day and for the glorious, living hope I have in You. Thank You on this day, this week, with so much sadness at the state of the world, for reminding me that this world is not my home, that this grief is not my eternal fate, that my hope is vibrantly alive because it rests in You. Draw me closer, and help me shine Your light. Amen.
1 Peter 1:8 Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy….
Have a blessed day.