Got to Have Hope - 2 Kings 18:28-32; 19:5-7,15-19

I do not like the word hopeless and only remember a couple of times in life when things really seemed that way to me. In 1943, the war was raging and I volunteered for the Air Corps, knowing that as a graduating senior I would have to go. I was turned down and placed in classification 4-F, and really thought that I was safe from the draft. Juanita and I got married in April of 44. In August, 44, I got my summoned to appear for the Infantry, and was drafted, and ordered to report for duty in 30 days. That was my first hopeless day.

In October, 1946, I sustained a back injury and entered Kennedy Hospital in Memphis. In April, 6 months and 5 days later I returned home to a wife and one daughter, unable to work, and was sitting in a swing on my front porch watching traffic pass by. I felt hopeless. Within the next two years every thing changed. God chose to reveal his love to me in a personal way. For the first time in my life I walked into the presence of God, not as a boy brought up in a Christian home, but I had become a Christian, Joined First Baptist Church, finished 72 hr. of college work, and had my first teaching job. When you have no hope, Christ is the answer.

The lesson this week is intended to help us rely on the saving power of Almighty God even when we are in what appears to be a seemingly hopeless situation. Jesus Christ has packed the New Testament with a bundle of promises that are ours for the asking—if we will only believe. I HOPE that I can show you just how easy it is to place your HOPE in Christ the Lord who never fails you. He even knows the number of hairs on your head.