Bulletin Articles: Full Article for Record Number 1013
Trouble And Hope
by Larry Ray Hafley
Trouble and hope-both are Bible subjects. Man is in trouble. The cause is sin. Man without God is without hope (Eph. 2:12). When man, in trouble, turns to God there is hope (Psa. 146:3-5).
Sadly, not everyone has hope. Why? Not because God is not there, not because God does not care and will not help; no, that is not the reason some are without hope. Some are without hope because they do not recognize they are in danger. If a lion is hidden, crouched in the bush, and I walk toward him and it, I am in trouble, and I have no hope. I am destroyed because I lack knowledge of the situation. Sinners are like that. Most go through life walking toward the bush with the lion behind it. They sin with joy. They are rewarded with honors. They head to their eternal doom without hope and without knowing they are in trouble.
Others have no hope because they do not believe the lion will hurt them. They see the bush. They know the lion is behind it. However, they do not fear the lion. They have been taught that he is their friend. He is the source of their pleasure. He is their pride. Their friends love the lion. They have fun. They are not destroyed. So, what is there to fear? These folks do not understand the true nature of the lion behind the bush. That does not cancel the danger they are in. It simply leaves them without hope when he springs.
A Christian knows the danger. He knows the lion is there. He knows what the lion will do. He may choose to go toward the bush anyway. He may decide to tease the lion and see how close he can get without being mauled and devoured. It is just a matter of time. His hope will vanish. He will become a morsel.
Sin lies at the door of your house and heart. Sin lies secretly, silently behind a bush. "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Pet. 5:8).
If you are in trouble, there is hope. That hope is "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Col. 1:27).
