March 8 Home Communicator – Yesterday while playing with Legos, my 6-year old son asked, “Mom, what does hopeless mean?” I paused for a moment, trying to find the words that would make sense to a little boy, “It’s like feeling sad and thinking things will never get better.”
I wondered where the question had come from. There certainly is no shortage of hardships both with people we know and love in our community and people around the world to feel a sense of weariness. Was he picking up on some of the difficulties around us or on the news? It made me wonder if I have been modeling that we, as Christians, are a people of hope. That we serve a God who promises to be with us through everything. That what goes on in this world isn’t the whole story.
When feeling the weight of this world, God’s Word gives us the hope we so desperately need! Psalm 46:1-3, 11 says,
God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.
The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Read His Word, let the words take root in your heart and in your mind, share it with your children. Our God is with us, He will never forsake us. We need not despair. Turns out my son wasn’t thinking quite as deeply about it as I was. He followed up by lifting up a small, red Lego jewel and asked, “Then why is this called the hopeless diamond?” You got me there, buddy!
In Christ alone, Katie VanTil – Nurturing Faith Coordinator
