A Stanza of Hope

Posted on Jun 29, 2015 Topic : Weekly Devotionals

As we walk among the ruins of our lives, can we hope that they will ever be rebuilt? When the enemy has trampled all that we hold sacred, when we are left to wander dazed among the rubble, when all our dreams have gone up in smoke, how can hope survive? When a spouse destroys the sanctuary of a twenty-year marriage, leaving the family in ruins, how can hope survive such an assault? When a family business goes bankrupt, reducing years of hard work to ashes, and the assets are carried into captivity by creditors, how can hope survive such a loss?

Regardless how sorrowful the song, there is always a stanza, if remembered, that can restore hope.

When World War II ended, this inscription was discovered on the wall of a cellar in Cologne, Germany, where Jews had hidden from the Nazis.

I believe in the sun even when it is not shining.

I believe in love even when feeling it not.

I believe in God even when he is silent.

No matter how dark the night, how dense the clouds, or how total the eclipse, the sun is still at the center of our solar system, shining. So is God. Even though we can’t see evidence of him through a miraculous sign or hear guidance from him through a prophetic voice, he is still there, in the center of all things. And he is still shining!

Here is our hope: that a day is coming when there will be no night, a day when all things will be made new. It will come because God is faithful in keeping his promises, both to his creation and to his covenant people. And here is something of what that day will look like:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband…

And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!”…

No longer will there be a curse upon anything. For the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and his servants will worship him. And they will see his face, and his name will be written on their foreheads. And there will be no night there—no need for lamps or sun—for the Lord God will shine on them (Revelation 21:1-2,5; 22:3-5). ¹⁰