HOPE - 'HOLD ON, PAIN ENDS' | KAIROS GLOBAL | JANUARY 2021

Author: Sumol Pious

Intro: Sumol Pious gives us a deeper understanding of hope, as we enter a new year.

Hope is the essence of our life, the vital component to move forward. People usually hope for a better future, work hard for a better lifestyle and do what they can for a better tomorrow. Do I follow the crowd in this or do I take a U turn to live my life in a simpler, fuller and beautiful way as He has planned? I hope the acronym Hope – ‘Hold On, Pain Ends’ has a new dimension and will help us to understand it in a better way.

H for Holiness. Joshua 3:5. Joshua said to the people, ‘Make yourselves holy! Tomorrow the LORD will do wonderful things among you.’ When we live with integrity, our life becomes holy before God and we become his witnesses to others. That’s the simple yet scrupulous task to enjoy our life in its fullness. Life is always beautiful with all its ups and downs as He has something good to offer us in it all. So, living a holy life without wearing a mask – just being humble to see others as part of a bigger plan can always fill a person with hope.

O for Openness. Revelation 3:8. I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. If we are open to ourselves and others, we can live a fuller life. Many times, we close ourselves to the several doors that the Lord opens in our life. We are so naïve to understand his love and care for us. We make our own plans and decisions but they trip us down and leave us with cuts and bruises – mentally, emotionally and physically. Opening up to our Lord and acknowledging our sins give us hope for a second chance.

P for perseverance. Luke 1:37. For nothing will be impossible with God. The one who trusts in God will find solutions to all the problems of life. We will be able to bear our pain with ease or with the conviction that this will turn out to joy one day, or that the sufferings will sanctify us and humble ourselves to see everyone as our brethren. Hope is this – God can make everything possible in our lives. We all might have experienced God’s miraculous intervention in life. This very hope gives us strength to persevere and move forward with gratitude. 

E for eternity. 1 Corinthians 15:19. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all men most to be pitied. All our thoughts, words, and deeds should lead us to a life here and a life after our death. According to the scripture we need to put our hope in Christ not only for the graces we need in this very life but also to partake with him the beautiful life he has offered us. If you confess that Jesus is Lord and believe that God raised him from death, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9) So eternity is a part of our life as we hope for the best, and the best is yet to come. It is a conscientious task to believe that there’s a life after our death, yet for us this is the good news as we enter into a new year and new era.

As we enter into another new year with all the graces it can offer, let us all live our life to the fullest with our Lord. Let us consider others as more worthy than us, let us love and serve God with our heart and in our deeds and actions. Let us strive for holiness in every small and big thing we do. Let us open our hearts for God. Let us persevere in all things, hoping to perceive the greater glory of God. Let us live this life as a deposit for eternal life. So this is not the dusk but a dawn full of hope which makes us new beings in His image.

An active JY in Muscat, Oman who works as a higher secondary school teacher.