Why Do You Have Hope?

By Pastor Rey Diaz

We use the word “hope” all the time, in everyday conversation.  “I hope so”, “I hope not”, “one can only hope…” and “I’ve pinned my hopes on…” Usually hopes come because of something: I call it a story.  There is some reason we have hope.  So we pick which story we will use to bring us hope.  Some pick the economy or the government and hope things will turn around.  As humans we are always looking for a reason to hope.  Without hope, we would all drift into despair.

The Christmas season reminds us what we Christians have put our hope in- we have chosen the Christmas story as the reason for our hope.  When Jesus was born, hope was born.  Jesus was called Immanuel, which means –“God is with us.”  That is why we have hope, because God is with us.  And if God is with us, there is always reason to hope.

We all face challenges in life.  We all face times when there seems to be no hope.  Even in the most dire circumstances, we know that God is with us.  So even in the darkness, we have hope.

I will never forget the hopelessness I felt the first time I walked into the garbage dump of Tegucigalpa.  Yet even in the midst of incomprehensible injustice, God is with us.  The school AFE is proof enough that God is acting behind the scenes. 

Because God sent Jesus, we have hope.  Because we follow Jesus, we have hope.  Because Jesus is God with us, we choose hope. 

You might have doubts.  You might have concerns.  You might have arguments.  There are a million reasons to doubt.  But if you want hope, true hope- life altering hope.  Hope for your future.  Hope for your kids.  Hope for your marriage.  Hope for your finances.  Hope.  Choose Jesus.  

“‘Look! The virgin will conceive a child!

    She will give birth to a son,

and they will call him Immanuel,

   which means ‘God is with us.’”

- Matthew 1:23