Barack Obama is the hope that so many of us have been waiting for. A hope for a better government; a hope for better poitics; a hope for a better world. Let’s work together to get Senator Obama elected and to become the Greatest President ever!!!

This quote is from Barak Hussein Obama’s website: “Americans for Hope.”

It is very clever. I think hope is missing in our society with gas prices rising, real estate sky rocketing, the stock market tanking, our sons in a war that few claim and want, and many American’s suffering from Bush fatigue… yes, we are looking for hope.

The problem is that hope is not found in a campaign or clever slogan. It is not found in a Messianic figure like Obama or a war hero like McCain. True hope must transcend who we are, be bigger and more grand. It must inspire us to press on in life with joy, even when the material world is falling apart.

I love this Scripture and have gone to it over and over for comfort, for hope:

Even though the fig trees have no blossoms,
and there are no grapes on the vines;
even though the olive crop fails,
and the fields lie empty and barren;
even though the flocks die in the fields,
and the cattle barns are empty,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord!
I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!
The Sovereign Lord is my strength!
He makes me as surefooted as a deer,
able to tread upon the heights. Habakkuk 3:17-19

We can change this to read: “Though there be no gas or oil, though the stock market crashs, there is no food in the stores, and real estate bottoms out, yet will I rejoice in the God of my salvation. He gives me strength and causes me to arise above these things.”

Yes, we all seeking hope… for a fail-safe future. But there are no guarentees in life. It doesn’t matter who we vote for, who wins the election, or what the state the economy is in… nothing is fail-safe. We must hang our lives on the knowledge of God’s constant love and goodness and the unfailing promises of the Bible.

So if you are looking for a hope that is fail-safe, then hang out in the Gospel of John for a couple of weeks. See if it doesn’t pour steel into your soul to rejoice in the tough times. See if the God’s breath of hope doesn’t freshen your outlook.