Tidbits for Thought

THE DAWN OF HOPE

Revelation 22:16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you testimony for the churches. I am the Root, and the offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.” The Morning Star is a glimmer in the darkness that might be thought of as God’s way of signaling a new day, new beginnings and everlasting hope. Each dawn God gifts us with a new day, a new beginning for the next twenty-four hours and the hope of eternal life. Jesus is the light that is cast into a world that is drowning in the darkness of despair, fear and uncertainty. Obviously, the challenges of yesterday did not miraculously disappear in the middle of the night. However, many times, a new day will offer some fresh insight and fresh hope to the many challenges that fill our lives and the lives of people who we meet during the day, The following quote from a very powerful writer, John Pavlovich, gives a description of hope far better that I could ever manage. “Hope is a superpower because of the way it sustains us. It is the pulsing lifeblood for weary hearts in dispiriting days. It is the steadfast belief that somewhere off in the distance, terrible things will get better; everything upside down will be righted; despite hate’s booming voice, love will have the last, louder word. Hope sees possibilities despite a mountain of evidence arguing against it. It launches us into the world, even if that world is filled with ugliness and opposition that we would prefer not to confront. You and I get to be stewards and protectors of hope when it is most vulnerable; like carriers of a small candle in the storm, we get to keep hope close to our chests and protect it from the winds and the weather that threaten to snuff it out. We get to make sure that there is still light left to pierce the darkness.” As Pavlovich noted in the above quote, you and I are the protectors of the small flicker of hope that only Jesus provides to a dark and hateful world. Maybe today we let our individual challenges fade into the background and focus on sharing with others the eternal hope that is ours through the sacrifice of Jesus. A sincere smile directed at the lady who checks out your groceries might offer a glimpse of Jesus that she desperately needs. A dollar or two could very well spell hope for a homeless drifter, not by the amount of money, but by giving him or her a small taste of Christian giving without expecting anything in return. A struggling single parent might see the hope of Jesus within some simple gesture that shows that kindness and caring are not just buzz words but reality. Any small act of unconditional love illuminated by kindness or unflinching forgiveness or giving or sharing the hope of Jesus might be the only light that some suffering soul sees on a given day. Those collective small acts of love, kindness, and sharing could very well be the glimmer of the Morning Star that blazes into a beacon of light that prompts an individual to seek out the love and forgiveness that only Jesus Christ offers. Think about it!        

~ Aron Smith