Filling Our Hope Chest

 Do you remember the old tradition of a hope chest? Long ago, a young woman would prepare a hope chest in anticipation of her wedding day. With hopeful dreams, brides-to-be would collect items like their grandmothers' china or heirloom linens to furnish their future homes. 

I didn't participate in the hope chest tradition as a young woman, but I'd like to invite you to join me in considering this old-fashioned custom as a new way to hold fast to hope. 

What if we stored up God's precious promises and our heart-wrenching pleas inside a simple wooden box to buoy our hope while living in a sin-sick world and longing for our future home? The visual reminder to pray and not lose faith soothes our pain while waiting for a relationship to be restored or for a hard heart to soften toward Christ. A hope chest packed to the brim with the treasures of God's Truth reassures our minds that God is still in control or a world dominated by hatred, and anger and destruction. 

Each day we are faced with Satan's lure to give up hope and give in to despair. We aren't the only ones. The people we love and support need to be reminded of our secure, indestructible hope laid up in Heaven just as much as we do. We need to tell ourselves and then repeat to them that no matter how dark life becomes, the resurrected life of Jesus provides an unending sunburst of hope. 

Hope doesn't come naturally to most of us even if we are glass-half full kind of people. I wrestled with writing this post while hope was slowly draining from my heart. But there is good news, the more hope is practiced, the more hope grows. Start building your own hope chest with the confident expectations. 

Hope is putting your faith for tomorrow into action today. Hope is bolstered when you're surrounded by faith-filled friends and family. Misplaced hope will always let you down, but the gospel is the true source of hope. The empty tomb on Easter is proof Christians are never left without hope. 

At Easter we relive the story of how a shameful and bloody crucifixion transformed into a victorious resurrection to everlasting life. We marvel again at Calvary where sin and death was conquered forever. Christ died in our place - the Righteous one for the unrighteous; the Sinless One for the sinful; the Holy God for the ungodly. 

The exuberance of Easter morn is like no other day. Yet, shouldn't we celebrate the wonder of our living hope each day of the year? Must we wait for Easter to roll around again to reclaim joy and hope? ( 1 Peter 1: 3-5)

Let's try a different path this Easter. To perpetuate resurrection joy. Let's pack our hope chests with the love and faithfulness of our loving Heavenly Father and revel in the joy that each day brings a new found hope to come.