(Source from The Word Among Us)

My days . . . come to an end without hope. (Job 7:6)

Poor Job! He had lost his possessions, his family, and his health. But perhaps worst of all, he had lost his hope. Now there was nothing for him to do but suffer and wait for death to take him out of his misery. He was convinced that he would “not see happiness again” (Job 7:7). 

We all need hope, but it’s not something we can manufacture on our own. Instead, we need something to pin our hopes on, and that was what Job was lacking. Like Job, if we don’t see something on the horizon that will improve our current situation, we will find it hard to keep going.

Perhaps that’s how the people in Jesus’ time felt as well. They had been living under harsh Roman occupation, and they didn’t know when God would come to rescue them. But then Jesus came on the scene. In today’s Gospel, he heals Peter’s mother-in-law and then spends the evening healing people and casting out demons (Mark 1:32-34). What hope this must have sparked, not only in the people he had cured, but in everyone who had witnessed such divine power! Perhaps he really was the Messiah they had been waiting for! 

The next morning, Jesus told the disciples that he was going to other villages in Galilee to preach and heal. “For this purpose have I come” (Mark 1:38).

For this purpose I have come. Jesus came to give us hope: to heal us of our sins and free us from the power of death. He came to give us life in him, a life that begins now but will last into eternity. 

Perhaps you are tempted to feel hopeless about a difficult situation in your life. Or maybe you’re discouraged about what the future will hold. But remember what Jesus said: he came for a purpose, and that purpose is being fulfilled in your life and in the world even now. He is the horizon you can look to whenever you are tempted to give up hope. May we always keep our eyes on him!

“Jesus, you are my hope, now and forever.”