A Victory that Brings Hope

I watched this video this morning about an eight year old who was pepper sprayed during a violent outburst.  This was the third time that the police were called to deal with him.  Eight years old and that is your reality.  How crushingly sad!  This is a child who at the age of eight is losing hope that life will be different.  In his own words he said, "I kind of deserved it, but -- when I also behave like that I'm thinking my future is going to turn around into the homeless, bad thing way."

The sad reality that this child is living makes the words that I read from Reclaiming the Future of Christian Education by Albert E. Greene all the more pertinent.  "The need for hope is perhaps more apparent today than ever before.  The promise of the Enlightenment has proved false.  Physical convenience in lifestyle has grown immeasurably, but human relations have rarely been as demonic as those we have experienced in the twentieth century.  As a result, many modern people have fallen into hopelessness.  But hope is a prominent element in the gospel.  Christ died in weakness, and His disciples thought their hopes had been completely dashed.  Then He rose from the dead, and in the hope of that victory the gospel spread throughout the Western world...The basis of Christian hope has not changed, and hope must be a prominent characteristic of the Christian teacher."

Tonight I'm thankful for Christ's victory over death and sin that gives me hope that I, too, can find victory over the sin that enslaves me.  I'm thankful that this hope filled message is intended for every heart that is losing hope.  I pray that as a teacher I communicate that hope to my students and that somehow this little boy will also come to know this very same hope.

Isaiah 9:2
The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned.