Day 62 – 90 Days in Proverbs - Hope, No Hope

Proverbs 11:7 [NIV] Hopes placed in mortals die with them; all the promise of their power comes to nothing.

Unless all our hopes and plans are reliant on God rather than man, any man, death ends that hope. No one has any real power beyond his/her death. I suppose if you leave a bunch of money to a non-profit like the American Cancer Society, you might say that, until the money runs out, your money has some power to do good. However, the society will spend it as they see fit. So, you really have no power.

Sometimes our power and influence ends before death – maybe after leaving political office or if you become physically or mentally feeble. Power, wealth and influence are fragile things and the actions of time and chance are fickle.

In the story of Lazarus and the Rich Man, which we read in Luke 16:19-31, the rich man learns this lesson the hard way. After death, his fate was sealed and all the money and influence he wielded when alive did him absolutely no good in trying to change his circumstances and the future of his living family.

However, in this life, we are called to be people who can be relied upon. We are to be people that others can trust and place their hope in. Others should be able to be assured that we will keep our word and our promises and that we will do what is right and good.

If we have power in this life, maybe being a teacher or a pastor or a supervisor at work, we are to use that power for good. We are to be just and fair. But the power of even the good and just ends with death.

Sweet sisters, there is one hope that does not die with us, and that is the hope in the Lord. Psalm 146:5 [NIV] tells us, Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD their God. The hope we place in Jesus did not die with Him at His crucifixion. That hope lived on, until He was resurrected 3 days later. It lived on after He went back to heaven to be with our Father. That hope lives on today and it will live on through all eternity – after our own deaths and resurrection to new life.

Because I know that this is where you place your hope, I say to you the words we find in Psalm 31:24, [NIV] Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD. Your hope in the Lord will not die with you.

Prayer — Father God, we hope and trust in You and Jesus. This is the only hope that lives past the grave. Lord, help us to be strong in this hope. Help us to be people others can trust in and help us to wield any power we have with kindness and love. Although we cannot continue to give hope or wield power beyond the grave, we pray that we will leave behind a legacy of being like You in this. We ask it all in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Your thoughts —  

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