The Assurance of Things Hoped For

There is a story about a midwestern town that was experiencing a bad drought. Crops were dying, and the livelihood of this small farming community was threatened. A local pastor decided to hold a prayer service and she invited all the townsfolk to come. They were asked to bring with them symbols of their faith. People showed up with rosaries, statues of the Virgin Mary, crosses, prayer books, Bibles, crucifixes, and even holy oil. All came forward and shared their symbol and prayed for God to send rain.

Finally, a young elementary school-aged girl came forward. Without any hesitation, she came to the front and slowly opened her symbol of faith – a brightly colored umbrella.

In the book of Hebrews, we read this: “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things unseen.”

While God does not always answer our prayers when we’d like or how we would like, we can expect God to act for good in our lives and in the world around us. We can expect beauty and redemption even amid great trials or difficulties. And we can expect that God will open new doors and bring about new beginnings.

Let us pray: Today, Loving God, we lay before you our uncertainties, our anxiety, our doubt, and our burdens. We ask you to grant us faith. Create in us an expectation that you are about to do something new – something beautiful. Help us not only to notice but also to be a part of it. Through Christ, we pray. Amen.