We all experience the highs and lows of life. At this moment in time, spring 2020, all of us are experiencing a trial we never saw coming. The intensity varies from person to person, some losing their jobs, some losing retirement funds, some losing loved ones, or maybe a combination of the many afflictions this world can bring. It’s easy to fall into a mental slump, to fall into depression and self-pity. It’s moments like this that tests the very core of our being, taking the ordinary life and flipping and twisting it all about — wringing you out like a used rag, until there is nothing left to wring out.

You might be thinking, what’s left? What good can happen now? This world is falling apart, my life is falling apart, I don’t know how to fix this. Know this, there is hope, hope that lies in the arms of Jesus Christ. Listen friend, we are at a moment in time where it is becoming very clear that we can’t depend on anyone, including ourselves to fully fix all the issues this world faces or all the issues in our own lives. But the best part is we don’t have to fix things ourselves, Jesus can fix anything and He starts with the hearts of men and women. But you have to put your faith in Him, you need to trust your life to Him.

Faith Brings Hope

God defines faith, through the writer of Hebrews, like this:

It’s our faith in Jesus’ work on the cross and His resurrection that brings hope and proof to what we cannot currently see. If you’re a born-again believer in Christ, you know Jesus’ work.

If you’re not, I’d like to inform you:

The Good News for Those Who Don’t Know

The Bible tells us in Romans 3:23 that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. It means we’re imperfect, sinful by nature and God has a standard, which we can know in the Ten Commandments. We will never be able to meet that standard. In Romans 6:23 we’re told that the wages of our sin is death. God is the just and holy Creator of all things. He can and will rightfully judge our sins and punish us for them. So the lies you tell, the sex you have outside of marriage, the hatred in your heart, the lusting of your eyes, all the wicked deeds you’ve done and will do, all of those count against you. Because of that we are all condemned to punishment, death and then eternal torment away from God, regardless if you believe hell exists or not.

Romans 5:8 tells us that because God is so merciful and loving, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Jesus is the Son of God, God took on the form of a man, born of a virgin and God’s Spirit, lived the impossible sinless human life then took on the punishment of the world’s sin on the cross. God allowed Jesus to take unto His human body the wrath and punishment of God, all the way to death, so that you and I don’t have to. On the third day, God raised Jesus back to life again, Jesus appeared to hundreds of people, including His disciples, over the course of 40 days before ascending into Heaven to sit at the right hand of God. He also has promised that one day He will come again and take His church to Himself, so that where He is, there we may be also (John 14:1-6). And He will establish His Kingdom, and all its glory for ever and ever, bringing judgment upon all who ever lived, to the believer, eternal life in paradise, based on their faith in Him alone. And to the unbeliever a second death consisting of eternal punishment for all the wicked deeds done in this life. (see Revelation 20 & 21)

It is important to understand who exactly Jesus is and what He did for us. By placing your trust in Him alone, it’s a true and sincere faith in Jesus which brings hope in all times and seasons, good seasons and bad seasons alike. The believer is a new creation in Christ, setup for good works. You don’t change yourself, but God changes you, starting with your heart. The heart of a believer is so trained on and focused on Jesus that His strength, wisdom and righteousness is applied, so you can face all things and will come out a winner when all is said and done.

Faith in Christ Overcomes All Things

The events going on, the trials in your life. They bring about moments when God can turn your heart to a state of repentance and trust. As a believer, it’s this time which we focus evermore closely on Jesus, we spend time in prayer, spend time in Bible study and most importantly we repent of our wrongdoings and ask the Lord to forgive us. We take our lives away from the worldly-focus and back to a Christ-focus.

For you who are non-believers, the same holds true. God uses what was meant for evil, pain and suffering and He turns it into an opportunity for repentance and placing your trust in Jesus alone. If you believe that Jesus died for your sins and offers forgiveness of them, that God raised Jesus back to life to defeat the death punishment and you confess that Jesus is Lord, you will be saved! (Romans 10:9-10) It’s that faith which manifests hope and that hope in Christ overcomes all things. Jesus promises that anyone who seeks first the Kingdom of Heaven, that all things needed to survive this life will be given to him or her.

Now Jesus won’t give you everything you want, nor does He promise health and wealth. He tells us that in this world we will have trouble, but to take heart, because He has overcome this world. Through faith in Him, we too can overcome this world (John 16:33). Who else can promise you that? Only the One True Living God can and He will deliver!

This Life Sets You Up For What’s Next

As believers, the trials we face build and strengthen our faith and dependence on Jesus. These trials purify our faith like gold in a furnace. What goes through the fire and makes it out will live and through Jesus Christ, we can go through the fire and make it out and eventually into eternal life with Him. There’s a saying I heard once, that you don’t always know how much you need Jesus, until Jesus is all you have left. In this season of trial for so many, take to heart that the things you’re losing now, are quite possibly God stripping away the distractions so that you will see and focus on Him.

If you don’t yet know Jesus, He may have led you to read this article, He could be calling out to you. Don’t tune Him out, listen and act. This may be your last chance to find salvation and hope in Him. This moment could be the moment that sets you up for what comes next. Don’t live the rest of your natural life hanging by a thread, fearful and scared of what may come, place your trust in Jesus and you will find an undying hope like you’ve never had before.