“Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.
David said about him: ‘I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest in hope,because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, you will not let your holy one see decay. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence’” (Acts 2:22-28).
Dear Christian, as you and I experience troubles and sufferings of many kinds in this life, what are we holding on to? How do we get through those things?
We’re holding on to hope. This isn’t a small and fleeting thing, no. This hope is sure and certain, because it rests entirely on Jesus and what he’s done for us. We’re holding on to the promise that God will not abandon us, because he did not abandon Christ Jesus to the grave.
We know we’re sinful people who don’t deserve God’s mercy—only his wrath and punishment in hell for all eternity. But the faith we have, and the hope we have, it’s not of ourselves. It’s not about anything we have or haven’t done.
It is by grace, God’s grace, that we’re saved, through faith, and this not of ourselves; it’s the gift of God, not by works so that no one can boast. And that faith, that hope, isn’t found in ourselves either; it’s found in what Jesus has done for us, in our place.
His perfect life and death and resurrection, because as the apostle Peter said (quoted above), it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. That means everything for you and me. That is what we hold on to. That promise. Because Jesus lives, we too shall live.
That promise doesn’t mean we won’t suffer or have problems in this life. Nowhere in the Bible does God promise us that he will shield us from all earthly troubles in this life if we believe in him.
In fact, Jesus tells us the exact opposite. “In this world you will have trouble” (John 16:33). We do. We suffer and struggle every day. I don’t need to give examples, because you know the burdens you carry from walking through the valley of the shadow of death that is this world.
Living in a sinful world is painful, and it’s easy for us to fall into doubt, to question whether or not God truly cares about us.
If he did, why would he allow terrible things to happen to us, to our loved ones? Why, God, why? We wonder if God has even heard our prayers, our cries for mercy. Has he heard us, or has he left us to deal with our problems on our own?
Why would God allow us to experience pain and loss, to feel helpless and hopeless? Because we need to see how utterly helpless and hopeless we truly are without God, to see that Jesus is our only hope of salvation. There is no other name under heaven given to humankind by which we must be saved.
Hold on to hope, dear Christian. Hold on to Jesus and what he tells you in his Word. Hold on to his unbreakable promises as you go through the trials and tribulations of life.
What does that look like? Again, we turn to Peter, quoting David in Psalm 16. This is what that looks like with the truths of the psalm applied to us because of our Savior Jesus:
“The Lord is always before us. Because he is at our right hand, we will not be shaken. Therefore our hearts are glad and our tongues rejoice. You have made known to us the paths of life; you will fill us with joy in your presence.”
God made known to us the path of life: Jesus Christ, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Hold on to the promise that your sins are forgiven; they’ve been washed away with Jesus’ blood. And because of Jesus, you are at peace with God.
Because of Jesus, you are filled with joy in God’s presence, now and forevermore.
An Ever-Present Help in Trouble contains 40 devotions filled with gospel comfort. They share God’s love and providence with those suffering from life’s disasters, reminding believers of God’s promises of strength. The book also features helpful prayers that ask for God’s aid in various times of trouble and disaster.
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Alex Brown is the marketing and content copywriter at Northwestern Publishing House. He has his Master of Divinity degree from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary and enjoys reading, writing, and spending time in God’s creation.
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