Alistair shares his thought for the week on the theme of hope.

Anyone who’s walked as a Christian for a while knows that hope is one of the three main chords within the fabric of our Christian journey; faith, hope and love. This week I wanted to focus on hope which has been an area of personal meditation to me.

How beautiful was it that we had such a great sermon from Pastor Billy speaking about the topic of Should I Trust God? Should you trust God and should you believe in his goodness? We were given a really beautiful scripture in Psalm 27 verses 13 and 14 that speaks about the nature of hope and how to hope.

I would have lost heart unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord, be of good courage and he shall strengthen your heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord.

Psalm 27:13-14

So in this world, we are not alien to trials, tribulations and horrible things happening. And oftentimes we have earnest desires and expectations that come under attack from those tribulations, from those trials. And the enemy who is always looking for ways constantly to destroy our hope. Because hope is our nuclear ability to wait on the Lord for those expectations, for his plans and purposes for our life to come to pass. We have hopes, we have faith that those things will come to be. And hope is our ability to wait and to sit in that waiting period unwaveringly knowing that those things are going to come to pass for us.

So in us being able to wait, we carry a lantern for the Lord saying that he will come, he will come, he will come. And sometimes it’s easy to hope because those hopes aren’t very big. But when those hopes are very big and are taking a long time to come, sometimes that lantern can dwindle. And we need to remember that while we are going through those trials and tribulations and while we’re waiting so desperately for the Lord, our lantern of hope shines a greater light into this dark world where people are leaning on things that are perishable, leaning on things that won’t see them through. They are looking at us, the household of faith, who are leaning on God to get us from point A to point B, from the beginning of a prophecy of your life to the end where that expectation is met.

In Psalm 27 verses 13 and 14, we’re met with a promise that God is reminding us here that we will see his goodness in the land of the living. And before that time even comes, God will reform your character, he will strengthen you, and he will give you the courage to wait on him. So when that expectation is met, you will be able to bear testimony and shine a greater light into this world that really needs that light.

So I share that with all of you. My love to you all. My prayer is that you will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living in the name of Jesus. Have a blessed week!

Every week one of our members shares a short thought aiming to inspire you for the week. You can watch previous Thought For The Week videos by clicking here.