Washed in the Blood

By Andrew Beasley     There have been times in my life where I have felt hopeless. When one thinks of biblical hope one may think of confident expectation. That helps to illustrate what hopelessness truly is. An absence of confident expectation of good things to come. In the long term one might think of salvation, but in the short term it is applicable to good things in life. For those who have not experienced hopelessness to an extreme degree it is hard to comprehend why someone might hurt themselves or go to even greater, more devastating lengths.     In moments of hopelessness the words of the 23 rd psalm may come to mind. Tho I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil, for you are with me. While we may not fear evil, and while the Lord certainly is with us, there are times when evil still wins. There are times when doubts creep in and cause our confident expectation to falter. I hope that if you are reading this, and the hope you have within you is faltering, you know that you are not alone. I have been there. Others have been there. And most importantly, even though you have faltered, the Lord has not.     Even in the valley of the shadow of death, He is there. Just as He remained steadfast when Peter started to sink after walking on the water out to Him (Matt. 14:22-33), He remains steadfast for you. And our hope is built on nothing less than His blood and righteousness.

- Andrew Beasley serves as a minister with the Northwest Church of Christ in Greensboro, NC. He may be contacted through the congregation's website: https://nwchurchofchrist.com/about/