August 7 devotion for 07-AUG-00

God's Two-Minute Warning
Devotion for Monday , August 07, 2000

Selection Taken From:
God's Two-Minute Warning Short-Term Choices, Long-Term Consequences by John Hagee

This is the time to pull out all the stops...to live for God like there's no tomorrow.

"August 7"

"Hope for the Troubled Heart"

Sooner or later, each of us experiences pain and frustration in the troubled times in which we live. We feel stress from an economic downturn or a major health crisis. We may also feel desperation in a marriage crisis or in other personal relationships. We may suddenly, and unexplainably, experience a tragedy that strikes like lighting out of a clear blue sky. Things go wrong, people disappoint us, and our problems mount. We want to improve out lives, but it seems we're in a state of constant crisis. How can I face failure and disillusionment realistically and still be optimistic? How can I learn to have faith again in people who have failed me? Where can I find hope in the dark days of deep depression, or those long, lonely nights permeated by pain? Where can I find strength for the storms of life that I see approaching on the horizon? The Bible says, "Lay hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul both sure and steadfast" (Heb. 6:18-19). Hope is the anchor of the soul that will hold you through the storms of life. Hope is a periscope that enables us to see over our present problems to future possibilities. Hope is a powerful medicine for despair and depression.