A Week of HopeSample

Cling Onto Hope

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. -- Romans 15:13 (NIV)

As we kick off this week of hope, we must set the right tone for what we should expect. No matter your situation, how dire or desperate it may be, there is hope.

In today’s reading, you’ll see an incredible set of miracles in the life of Jesus. In the previous chapter, Mark wrote that Jesus calmed a storm, and now in chapter 5, he tells us that Jesus cast out a legion of demons. As He returned, the crowd pressed in. A man named Jairus threw himself at the feet of Jesus and begged Him to heal his sick daughter. Jesus agreed and began to walk with the man. The crowds continued to push in to be close to Jesus, and in Luke’s version, he wrote that the crowd was close to crushing Jesus.

Then enters our hopeless person -- a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered under the care of many doctors and spent all her money to get better, but only grew worse. How many times have we been in that circumstance? Hope seems so far away because the situation worsens no matter what we do.

When the situation is dire, we must adopt her philosophy in verse 28: “If I just touch His clothes, I will be healed.” She realized that her only hope for a miracle was in Jesus Christ. She reached out and clung to hope, and Jesus, the source of all hope, healed her.

Next Step

In what area do you need hope? It may feel desperate or dire, but hope is just an arm’s length away. Take your problem to the Lord today and tell Him that you need His hope. And the God of hope will fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him.