The news is bombarding us daily with atrocities on a scale that many of us have not seen. Politics are dividing families.  Trump and Hiliary are thrown in our faces every single day.  Killings in our neighborhoods, in our country and even globally are taking a toll. Hate, hate, and even more hate is spewing from the mouths of people everywhere, lumping every individual into specific groups and then all of us judging those groups.

We have become weary, worn and almost numb to the horror. Never before have we felt that things were so out of our hands. Everywhere you look, every one has an opinion, a solution and a fix for our brokenness. And some of those fixes are pretty scary.

I don’t know about you but I have almost become overwhelmed. Mix in personal grief and the ever concern for my family and I have to say, things are not good. However in the midst of all of this, there is hope. But it will require us to make “hope” an action and to do our part, in our specific corner of the world to share it.

Here are my thoughts on sharing hope:

• First of all….my hope does not lie in anything or anyone in this world. My hope, trust, and faith are in my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Romans 11:36 tells us: “For of him, and through him, and unto him, are all things. To him be the glory for ever. Amen”. If we call ourselves believers, we should know and fully understand that even with things breaking down around us, God is still in control. Fully understand people, that Him being in control will not grant us all the desires of our hearts or that outcomes will occur as we desire. But know that His will is perfect and that it will prevail. Don’t ever forget that if you are a believer, you are the child of the King of Kings and that He will never leave you or forsake you, even in these times when it seems He is quiet. He is there and He is at work. Are you seeing it? Are you ready to join Him?
• Second…as a believer I am called to do two things. I must love the Lord my God with all of my heart, soul and mind and I must love my brother as myself. If I do the first, the second will occur. If I do the second, it will be upon the power of the first. I believe they go hand in hand. So how do I show this love? To start, I pray. I take it all to God in prayer. Prayer is not just a thing we do. It is vital. It is not our last resort….after the fact. It is an action. It is a two way communication with God that enables us to bring our requests to Him, lay them at His feet and wait to hear His response. Listening and waiting are just as important as talking to God. And as we wait, keep on praying and believing. God will reveal Himself and His purpose through The Word, The Holy Spirit, through people and through circumstances. Pay attention!
• Third….get up, stop sitting and effect some change in your corner of the world. If it involves helping someone directly, donating to a cause or volunteering; just do it! There is so much work to be done in today’s world. You truly cannot go through life and believe you will not make a difference. I seriously believe “Christianity has been highjacked” and I know some may not be happy to hear me say this, but, it is embarrassing to hear people say they are Christians, yet there is absolutely nothing in their daily walk to support this. You hear it coming out of their mouths, but you see absolutely no evidence in their life. In fact, you sometimes see the opposite. Being a believer is way more than telling people. It is your daily walk. It is engagement with, concern for, and love of others. Stop telling people you are Christians and start living it. I think if they polled most of us in America, we would say we are Christians or believe in God, but you certainly would not believe it based on our actions. Some of us who call ourselves Christians and are living opposite lives are causing others to never want to know about God. People have judged us based on their actions. I know this is an old cliche we used to say years ago, but “If you were on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence in your life to convict you?” Think about it!
• Last….share God’s love around you. People everywhere are so scared and in such pain or maybe just have turned inward to get through the day. Smile at someone today, offer to open a door, pay someone a compliment, or just share something with them. That one kind gesture may be the nicest thing that happens to them all day. I certainly believe being kind benefits you far more than the recipient of your gesture. And it doesn’t cost you anything! You may not get a returned smile or a thank you, but do it because it is the right thing to do.

We have to start building bridges to each other in this world because we see where we are headed if we don’t. Don’t let the next disaster show us our humanity to each other. Head it off!