Hope for Help

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. - I Peter 1:3

I did a goofy thing today. How I did it is a mystery. I locked myself in my basement.

After going downstairs to walk on my treadmill, I trudged back up the steps to find the door locked tight. No amount of jiggling worked to dislodge the lock. After knocking on the door for a while, I determined the futility of yelling for help. I was stuck.

How I longed for a phone right then to call someone. As I sat on the steps, I felt so helpless. I had a few sips of my water left, and my puppy, Angel, sat by my side, so I didn’t feel totally alone.

I pondered what it must be like to find yourself in a place from which there is no escape. I had hope that my husband would come home soon, but what if you were in a position where there was no hope?

In the 16th chapter of Luke, Jesus told of a rich man who went to hell, described as a place of torment. “In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.'”

Jesus wanted everyone to know the real truth about the suffering of Hell. In Matthew 25:30 Jesus described Hell as a place of "outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth." Every description of hell in the Bible tells of a place of suffering, torment, and agony.

These verses emphasize that those who go to hell are without hope. In hell it is too late to call on God, too late to change your life, and too late to repent.

Hell can be avoided if a person repents. The key to our salvation is faith in Jesus Christ. We call on His Name. In the book of Romans, Paul said, “If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.”

We are saved from hell and saved to go to heaven. Praise the Lord! We have hope. Even though our present bodies will die, our new bodies given to us by Christ, will live forever in heaven. Christians have hope.

My prayer for you is the same as Paul’s for the Ephesians, “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints."(Ephesians 1:17-18 niv)

Today, after two hours stuck in the basement, my husband arrived home and unlocked the door. All along, I had hope I would be released. I pray that you have hope for eternity!

And I intend to hide a key in the basement some place.

Prayer: Lord, I thank You I have hope because of salvation through faith. I thank You for your love, grace, and mercy. Help me to be witness of Your love.