Our Daily Bread Teens EditionSample

Read Isaiah 40:27–31

27 Why do you complain, Jacob?
 Why do you say, Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord;
 my cause is disregarded by my God”?
28 Do you not know?
 Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
 the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
 and his understanding no one can fathom.
29 He gives strength to the weary
 and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
 and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the Lord
 will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
 they will run and not grow weary,
 they will walk and not be faint.

Hope

What’s the hardest thing about waiting? For me, it’s the “not knowing”. Like waiting to find out if you passed an exam. Or waiting to hear the results of a blood test. Or waiting for a reply from a friend you’ve just texted. When we’re waiting, it can be difficult to settle down or concentrate on something else. Waiting is hard!

Do you find waiting for God a bit like this too? Actually, the Bible tells us that we can wait on Him patiently because we have “hope”. This hope will “renew [our] strength” so that we can keep going and “not grow weary” (Isaiah 40:31).

But what does it mean to have hope? This isn’t about wishful thinking or crossing our fingers and hoping that God will turn up to help us. Rather, hope in the Bible means being confident and certain. It means knowing who God is and that He has promised to always be with us and give us what we need.

It’s a bit like our place in heaven. We don’t just “hope” that we will get there; as God’s children, we know for certain that we have a place in His home! We can be confident about it. And we can live through boring or tough days “and not grow weary” because we have God-centred hope.

We can be patient and joyful despite today’s problems. God is with us and we know for certain that He will guide us through. We have every reason to be kind, calm, and more concerned about others than we are about ourselves because God will give us the strength to keep going. —DR

When you feel like giving up, remember the hope God gives you.

And… Action!

Write down one promise God has made that you are assured and confident of.

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