A NEW HOPE.
In 2012, I wrote a column on the aspect of hope in our lives. I also mentioned that the Rev. Tommy Greer believes that Satan has a shed where he keeps his tools of evil. Addiction, depression, hate, and anger are just a few of Satan’s precious items. Although he has many, I believe that Satan’s favorite tool is fear.

Fear combines some of the most powerful negative forces on Earth and in the spiritual realm. However, God gives us a more powerful tool than fear. It is hope.

Since I wrote my previous column about hope back in 2012, The United States has become even more politically and socially fractured. I invite you to watch a few minutes of any political talk show in the evening. You will see nothing but hate, finger pointing, and a total lack of civility.
Rarely, will you see any plausible suggestions for solutions.
We have countless presidential candidates. Other than Hillary Clinton, no one seems to have taken charge within their party in these months before the primaries.
There is also widespread fear about ISIS, our national security, our changing culture, and violent domestic unrest.

Enemies across the globe pay attention to the United States. Today, many of them perceive us as weak, materialistic, and crumbling. They also know that we are becoming a more secularized society every day; turning our back on God.

At work and home, when a situation begins to turn in the wrong direction, I immediately stop and step back for a few minutes or even hours. I try to seek God’s will for me and the power to carry that out. Oftentimes, just “getting out of the way” will solve the problem.

Our country can do the same. We can seek God’s guidance and look back to those divinely inspired Framers of the Constitution for solutions.
But, it will take extraordinarily strong leadership from brave men and women to get our country back on the path of goodness and prosperity. I have not seen those leaders yet. But they must be out there. We must choose hope over fear.

I have a close friend whose wife has suffered from a traumatic brain injury for years. Another friend is hospitalized again because he cannot escape the demons of the bottle. In both scenarios the so called “odds” do not appear good from a human power standpoint. But, there is hope. Doctors are wonderful people who have been given the power to heal through training, medicine, and intelligence. But, God has the most powerful role in the process of healing.

Hope does not come from the reliance on human power alone. Hope, like faith, is believing that God has a plan and is in control of that plan.

Many of our people suffer from economic insecurity, problems at home, poor health, and general unhappiness just to name a few. Fear lies underneath these and other personal struggles. The most difficult challenge is identifying the fear. If we can make an identification, we can find the new hope that will overcome.

Just for today, I pray that I will believe that hope will overcome my own fears.
While I have turned my back on God many times in my life, the single piece of evidence that clearly makes the case for the power of hope is that He has never turned his back on me.
Tomorrow is a new hope in the ongoing battle of good v. evil in our country and within our own lives.
Join me in choosing hope.