Hopelessness Is A Bad Ending To Every Story

In the news the past couple of days is the story of an Indiana pilot who faked a distress call and bailed out of a plane over Alabama. His plane continued on autopilot for some two hundred miles before crashing in a marsh just seventy five feet from a home. He was found at a Gadsden County, Alabama campground Tuesday night after slashing his wrist in a suicide attempt. Why did he take such risky and dramatic steps to fake his death and then actually try to commit suicide? Some are reporting that he was trying to escape legal and financial troubles involving hundreds of thousands of dollars and allegations of fraud.

Ever found yourself having a really bad day and wondering, "How could things get any worse?" If you are a faithful Christian, no matter what you are facing today things could be much worse. That may sound a little presumptuous on my part, but for a faithful Christian it is an absolute fact!

What motivated the man who jumped from his turbo prop airplane to cut his wrists in an attempt to end his life? Bottom line, he believed he had no hope for a solution to his problems. Take this to the bank, when you think you have absolutely "NO HOPE" things have gotten as bad as they can get.

Paul wrote to the brethren in Ephesus and asked them to remember back to the time in their lives when they were without Christ, "having no hope and without God in the world." (Ephesians 2:12) Earlier in this same chapter he reminded them that they "once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience." (Ephesians 2:2) Whether they realized it or not, before they were taught about Jesus Christ, things were as bad as they could get. Satan was directing their lives and they didn't even know it. They were spiritually dead in trespasses and sins. We're talking about hopeless!

Take time to read the second chapter of Ephesians. In verse 4 you find the first in a series of two word introductions, "But God." In verse 11, "Therefore remember." In verse 13, "But now." In verse 19, "Now, therefore." This entire chapter is filled to the brim with reasons why we are filled with hope. Today, you may be facing some really tough struggles. But God, who is rich in mercy is with you. Take a minute to remember that you don't have to live or even think like you did before becoming a Christian. Remember that now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. In fact, you are no longer a stranger and a foreigner, but a fellow citizen with the saints and a member of the household of God.

The story never ends well for those without hope. But there has never been a bad ending for those who embrace the hope found in Christ Jesus. That gospel truth explains passages like Romans 8:18 "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." Thank God for hope.