Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord.
— Psalm 31:24 NIV

According to the apostle Paul, three things will continue forever: faith, hope, and love. Paul makes it clear that the greatest of these is love, and we all agree. But what of the other two?

We know faith is crucial. Without faith it is impossible to please God or to hang on when life is tough. Doubt can creep in so easily, and the only answer is to remember that Jesus is worth it all.

But what about hope? In our haste to be sure we have faith and love, do we sometimes fail to give hope its proper due? Without hope, life is a sorry game, played without enthusiasm or joy. As our society marches into the twenty-first century, people wonder what our real chances are. Is there any hope?

Those are legitimate questions, and I believe that only Christians have the legitimate answers. When our dreams seem to go sour or remain unfulfilled, hopelessness can dominate our lives—or we can hold on with open hands, knowing that we have hope because God is faithful.
— Sheila Walsh

Excerpted from A Grand New Day © 2008 by Thomas Nelson®, Inc. Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson®. Used with permission. All rights reserved.
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