Gareth Thompson, Secondary Teacher
Excitement was bubbling in the Thompson household last week as we inched closer and closer to moving out of lockdown and again being able to do some of our favourite things. Personally, I’ll probably have to wait a month or two until Bunnings’ sausage sandwiches are on the menu again. However, my youngest daughter had been saving up and making plans to go to her favourite doughnut shop in Penrith. We told her that the type of doughnut she wanted was readily available at local petrol stations, but she insisted that it had to be from Krispy Kreme. It had to be made fresh, or it wasn’t the same.
The date and time were set, and off she went. After 17 weeks of only “essential” shopping, her hopes were high for the sweet taste of a freshly-made glazed doughnut. Unfortunately, she soon discovered that there were many others with similar hopes. By the time she got to Krispy Kreme, they were SOLD OUT. Not one left. What a disappointment! She tried to find an alternative, but nothing was going to be as good as what she was hoping for.
Hope is a funny thing. Sometimes we hope for little things; sometimes big. Sometimes our hopes are for others and sometimes for ourselves. After the strange times we have recently experienced, we will all be carrying a variety of hopes for the future. Whether it be economic stability, good health, reduced stress or a new puppy, we all have something we are hoping for. Some of those hopes will be realised. Others will not. Sometimes the outcome will be as good as we hoped for. Other times it will be disappointing.
As Christians, we can know a certain hope that does not disappoint. If you have been enjoying these newsletter articles each week, you will have read it. If you’ve been listening to Mr Hottinger’s Lockdown Friday devotions, you will have heard it. Our sure and solid hope is God’s love for us in Jesus.
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who he has given to us.
Romans 5:1-5
I wonder what you are hoping for as we move out of lockdown. I hope that you will want to know the One who does not disappoint.