March 19

Therefore prepare your minds for action. Be sober-minded. Set your hope fully on the grace to be given you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. — 1 Pet 1:13 BSB

Hope primarily looks toward “the end,” for the end is “better than the beginning,” the glorious culmination of all that faith believes, hope expects, and love experiences. Yet, hope often has to navigate through dark and troubled seasons before reaching that end, at times sinking so low as to almost despair of life itself. In these moments, hope must gather all its evidence, reflect on past "Ebenezers" and "hill Mizars," recall previous deliverances, manifestations, and blessings. It clings to the promises of God, crying out for help with great urgency, and continues to hope even against all evidence to the contrary, facing unbelief, doubt, and despair.

There must come an end to all our struggles, trials, afflictions, and battles. We will not forever be wrestling with the body of sin and death. We won’t always face the snares and temptations that sin and Satan place in our path, barely escaping them by the skin of our teeth. Every day serves as a reminder that an end must come.

But here comes the pressing question, often filled with anxiety: What will that end be? Here is where hope sustains and strengthens the soul, allowing us to look forward with a hope that will not disappoint—a good hope through grace, one that endures and is sealed by the Holy Spirit, ensuring that the end proves hope was indeed a gift of the Spirit, perfected by His power.