Growing up celebrating Easter Sunday entailed getting a new dress, white gloves, and a bonnet. The local newspaper snapped a picture of me and my four sisters in matching floral outfits my mother sowed. Yikes! I was horrified at the thought of celebrating this crucified Christ who had walked through what is known as the Via Dolorosa (Way of Suffering). All of what he endured was so gruesome, until I realized that the pain wasn’t permanent. He went through knowing it would not end in agonizing death, but in glorious victory. There is celebration because He rose from the grave and personal pain is not the end of the story!
Have you ever wished that your current situation would improve? I refuse to believe that no one desires to remain stuck in the same dismal situation year after year. Stagnation can cause you to feel like the world is caving in because you don’t see any substantial progress. This can make you feel that there is no room for growth or victory, but that is not true. It’s so easy to sink into believing that things will not get better, that is until someone throws down a rope to pull you out of the sand you’re sinking in. The Hebrew word for cord or rope can be defined in the Strong’s concordance for the word tiqvah which means hope (Joshua 2:21). Hope is a visual extension of God’s delivery from a perfect heaven to your restless soul. Receiving hope may be exactly what you need to get up and keep going. It is one of the many reasons that hope is within your reach. It can lift you up, pull you out, and lead you forward as a result.
Placing your hope on the truth is never blindly wishing that you will magically get all the things you imagine. It is better than that, because it is confidently expecting God to be everything he said and then waiting on him to come through for you at the time he sees fit. Hope helps you to look up to a God that is dependable and capable to follow through on his promise for you. There is a hope that NEVER disappoints (Isaiah 49:23), it is found in holding on to Christ. On Good Friday, he proved that not even death could keep him from reaching us. On Resurrection Sunday, Jesus not only got up, he gets us out of whatever we are being held back by, now that’s a joy worth celebrating! - For further encouragement read the story of Rehab found in Joshua 2, 6 and Hebrews 11:31
Vines Strongs –the word for cord is tiqvah- meaning hope (Joshua 2:21)
