Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Romans 12:12

On September 24, 2024 Hurricane Helene made landfall. Helene cut a 500-mile path across six states and left 250 dead. In the mountains of North Carolina, she dumped 1 ½ feet of rain on a land still trying to recover from the effects of the previous two days of flooding. Nearly one hundred deaths were reported in North Carolina alone; as of this writing fifty are still reported missing.

Lives were lost, homes were washed away from their foundations, towns were wiped off the map. Entire families clung to trees, waiting and hoping someone would save them.

Like you, I have been greatly moved by the devastation we have witnessed. Helene is the worst storm to hit our nation since the Great Flood of 1916. Despite the pain of so many, we’ve heard the many reports of hope from those who have the least reason to hope. They tell about the goodness of God that they have witnessed amid the sadness.

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope Romans 5:3-4

Jewel Warrick has lived in a town, Relief, NC for fifty-five years. Helene tore through her small community and buried her home in mud. She and her son James evacuated just days before the storm. Six residents of Relief died, including two young boys. Jewel is quoted as saying “we’ll survive, we’re not giving up. We can’t. There’s hope and when you have hope, you move on”!

Jewel’s hope, and that of so many others, is not human hope or worldly hope, that kind of hope is merely a wish for what one desires to happen. No, the hope we’re talking about is a hope founded on that which is greater than what man can do. It is not an elusive hope, it is a living and sure hope. It is not based on the temporal or what is seen but what is eternal and unseen.

What is the source of this sure, eternal hope? It is the hope we can find only in God; He alone is the reason we can even dare to hope. It is a hope that binds His oneness to you.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. Romans 15:13

My pawpaw was known for many things. He was a man of great wisdom and many of his words still ring in my ears today. “Just remember, no matter how bad off you think you are, you can always find somebody that’s worse off”. Now, he in no way was assigning a degree of suffering but rather pointing out the importance of perspective. Even when it feels like you have no where to go there is hope.

In a few days we will be celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday. As we gather around the table with family and friends let’s determine to set our minds on the goodness of God and His great bounty. There is a sadness for certain. So many will have empty chairs at the table. But there is also a reason to rejoice. Our God is a God who loves. He is a God of mercy. He is a God of hope.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead 1 Peter 1:3