I hope you all have enjoyed time with your families this season celebrating Christmas and the New Year. New Years is close to my favorite holiday because of the way it feels burning with hope, optimism, and new beginnings.

All clichés aside, we have good reason to hope! Our God is the God of all hope — and He longs to fill us “with all joy and peace because we trust in Him” Romans 15:13. Partnering with “the God of all hope” means joining in with God’s own beliefs and point of view about the world. God does not feel burdened or overwhelmed about the world. He is not discouraged about the problems or darkness He sees. God is BURNING with hope for you and I — and all the world! Where you and I may see problems, God sees solutions. God has never once seen a problem on the Earth that He didn’t have an solution for. Hope is seeing that your life, your kids’ lives, your coworkers’ lives… are all on the cusp of breakthrough — if only by a single touch from God.

“Hopelessness” is just imagining a future without Jesus in it — and “hope” is seeing that every area of your life is one Jesus-touch away from breakthrough. God can (and wants to) be involved in EVERY situation. We pray that His will would be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. Light shining into every darkness. And it gets better: YOU are God’s ambassador. The darkness still present on the Earth (especially darkness existing in your sphere of influence) has good reason to quake and tremble! Why? Because God has an ambassador positioned in that part of the world. A warrior — a Son or Daughter — a servant ready to lay their life down for others in love. We are Christ’s body on the earth. You and I are the outstretched hand of God on the Earth ready to TOUCH situations still remaining in darkness. We are God’s light on the Earth.

We have good reason to hope, friends. Let us not lose hope, and if we are struggling with hope, let’s ask God for some of His! Let us meditate on and dream about a tomorrow in which God is VERY involved. Let us pray for that His kingdom would come and that His will would be done in our lives as it is in Heaven — and let us pray about how He intends to use us to make it come to pass. Happy New Year