Hope That Is Secure

There will be a future, and your hope will not be cut off.  – Proverbs 24:14

In September 1929, the stock market crashed and the Great Depression began. Few know that it lasted ten years. Unemployment was at 25 percent, and agriculture prices dropped at the same time the Great Plains were devastated by the Dust Bowl. Many people lost their farms, turning to the cities, where “Hoover towns” and housing projects were about the only things growing. People could no longer care for their children and put them in orphanages or sent them off to be adopted. It was a long a difficult decade. 

Now, nearly 93 years later, Americans face inflationary pressures and, while unemployment is low, so is the available labor force as the nation has been met with a post-pandemic Great Resignation. Economic forecasts include a coming recession. 

Where do you find hope? During the years of the Great Depression, the church of Jesus thrived and grew. Tent meetings, revivals, and evangelistic outreaches expanded the number who then found their way to churches on Sunday. Greater growth occurred as fears of the war in Europe and Asia brought people to a place where they began to seek God. Historically, the church has flourished during times of war, famine, economic depressions, riots, political corruption, plagues, and persecution.  

Again and again, in Scripture, God promises His people a future and a hope. Jesus is our Living Hope (1 Peter 1:3). Apart from Him, however, the days appear darker as you see the Day approaching (Hebrews 10:25). Build your hope on nothing less than the security found in your faith in Jesus. Pray that, in these difficult times, churches will “build more bridges of hope” to reach hurting people across the nation and the world by introducing them to Christ the Savior.