"My flesh and my heart fails, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." – Psalm 73:26 (MEV)

I was reading the news a few days ago and came across various tragic and horrible events happening in the lives of Christians in different places, and realized one thing: trying times do come in our lives whether we like it or not, whether we are doing right or not.

Egyptian Coptic Christians, for example, experienced a traumatic event in their lives just this past Palm Sunday, as two separate bombings occurred in two different churches while the service was going on. This broke my heart.

Elsewhere, we read of Christians being persecuted for being Christians. In China, Christians are persecuted for worshipping Christ. In Sri Lanka, some Christians are harassed by peoples of other faiths. In many Middle Eastern nations, Christians are being persecuted as well.

Even in the U.S., many Christians are accused of "discriminating" others when they refuse to take part or give their service to a people against their convictions. Where does this bring us?

A Reason for Hope

Friends, when our faith is tested or even mocked, do we simply give up being faithful? When our hopes in God are quenched by the many problems we face, do we stop hoping?

I hope we don't.

In Job 19:25, we find a powerful reason why we shouldn't stop hoping in God even when we feel hopeless because of what's happening around us:

"For I know that my Redeemer lives..."

Friends, God is alive, very much alive. We might feel like He's silent, but He's actually quieting us with His love, and is singing over us in delight – as we go through what we are going through.

"The Lord your God is in your midst, a Mighty One, who will save. He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will renew you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing." (Zephaniah 3:17)

More than that, we know that if we do not give up, if we don't stop persevering in the faith, we will receive a reward that will never be taken from us, ever.

"But as for you, be strong and courageous, for your work will be rewarded." (2 Chronicles 15:7 NLT)

Hope in the Lord's promise

Friends, let us be encouraged by what the Lord Jesus Himself promised us. He said in John 14:2-3 that He will come again to take us with Him. Let us have this hope: that no matter what we face, we are assured of His love always, in this life and in the life to come.