Today's Devotional
May 2, 2007
Subject: First To Lose Hope
Acts 27:20 - "And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away."
About two weeks ago, the leader of the Senate declared that the war in Iraq was lost. This caused quite a stir from both politicians, military leadership and personnel serving in Iraq. A quote from a soldier in the field stated, "Senator Reid, you're killing us."
That whole scenario reminded me of the story of Paul and a band of prisoners who were sailing to Italy. Paul previously stated that they shouldn't go because it would be really dangerous. The strange thing about it was that after they set out on the voyage and the weather got turbulent and the ship was being destroyed, the first people to lose who hope were those who disregarded Paul's words. They chose to listen to the owner of the ship instead of to a man of God.
That's how we are with many of our actions. Instead of us listening to what God is saying, we heed the advice of experts and "smarter" people. Eventually, that advice won't stand up and those who have used that as a bedrock, will have their hopes dashed.
Many fighting in Iraq continue to have hope. Could it be that they have heard something different than Senator Reid? While his hope is lost, the hope of many still remain.
Today consider where your hope comes from. The war of life is never lost when you've heard from God.
