Hope Won

I was watching a yahoo news clip, and saw Oprah wearing a shirt that said, "Hope Won."

Honestly, as we sat in our living room Tuesday evening, nothing came as a surprise to us. At least as far as the election results were concerned. What did shock us was the response of the people. There were people on their knees crying tears of joy. Looks of admiration. Dare I say almost a reverent look of awe and worship. Young girls jumping up and down and screaming. I couldn't figure out if this was going to be a presidential acceptance speech...or a Beetles concert. It was hard for me to understand why any human would act this way toward another human. Really I didn't get it. As a Christian it was quite disturbing. Then as my beloved and I were spending our Saturday morning, in our favorite way...yard selling...he put it all into perspective for me.

Hope Won.

That is exactly what Americans voted for Hope. For too long we have placed our hope in our jobs, possessions, retirement funds, our toys, our homes...the list could go on and on. We have thought that abundance would bring us satisfaction and security. Now as those things are wasting away, as they always do. Americans are once again looking for Hope. Unfortunately, they are looking in the wrong place. They are looking to a mere man, to restore to them those very things that are wasting away. They believe he offers them hope for security and satisfaction. Obama ran on a platform of change. People know they need change. They feel the emptiness and fear. They are longing for something more.

What they are longing for is Jesus, our Eternal Hope. They are longing for the Hope of salvation. The Hope and the security that comes from knowing the Living God as Savior. They are longing for a Living Hope, that will never fade or perish. They are longing for Christ in them, the hope of glory. This is where peace is found. This is where true, good, and lasting, change is found. This is where security is found. In Him, and Him alone, should we place our hope.

The enemy of this world has blinded the eyes of many. Whispering lies to a multitude of people who have placed their hope in the wrong things, in the wrong people. I pray the God of all Hope would have mercy on us. That He might grant us repentance. That He might gives us true Hope.

Psalm 146 (ESV)

1 Praise the LORD!Praise the LORD, O my soul!

2I will praise the LORD as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

3 Put not your trust in princes,
in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.

4When his breath departs, he returns to the earth;
on that very day his plans perish.

5 Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the LORD his God,

6 who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them,
who keeps faith forever;

7 who executes justice for the oppressed,
who gives food to the hungry.The LORD sets the prisoners free;

8 the LORD opens the eyes of the blind.
The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down;
the LORD loves the righteous.

9 The LORD watches over the sojourners;
he upholds the widow and the fatherless,
but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

10 The LORD will reign forever,
your God, O Zion, to all generations.
Praise the LORD!