Sheryl Brady - My Hope is on High Alert

Let’s pray over the Word today. God, we thank You for Your Word; we thank You that it is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. Lord, I thank You because You knew who would tune in and who would need what I am about to say today. I ask, God, that You would anoint me to say it in a way that causes people to hear it clearly as You need them to hear it. Have Your way in our gathering today, God, and we’ll give You the glory for it in the name of Jesus. Jesus, in the name of Jesus, Amen.

Today, I just want to talk to you from the Book of James. I want to give you the scripture, James 5:8. I’m going to read to you from the Good News Translation, so if you have that, follow along; if not, just watch and read the words on the screen with me. James 5:8 is very clear and states, «You must also be patient; keep your hopes high, for the day of the Lord’s coming is near.» Keep your hopes high. Now, if you were in the church today with me in this building, I would tell you to touch your neighbor and say, «My hope is on high alert,» because that’s what I’m going to talk about today—my hope is on high alert.

We are walking into the eighth month of this global pandemic that we have all been dealing with, and it almost feels as though every which way you turn, whether right or left, people are searching for and looking for some good news; they are looking for hope. As a matter of fact, I was looking into the word «hope.» In December, I noticed how many searches came up for the phrase «good news.» You know the gospel is the good news, but I was just thinking about how many people had Googled the term or searched for «good news.» As I began to read that article, I found that in December of 2019, there were about 78,000 searches per month for the phrase «good news.» One of the articles I read stated that the current numbers are nearing closer to about 500,000 per month. So, in December, before the pandemic hit us, there were about 78,000 searches, and now there are about 500,000 searching for hope. Obviously, there are a lot of people who are pretty stressed out today, and if you are one of them, I have some good news for you. I believe you didn’t just log into The Potter’s House North or jump on our social media sites by accident; I believe God wants you to know today that He has good news for you.

I want to begin by reminding you that the entire Book of James was really written for people whose world had been turned upside down—not so much by a pandemic, but by persecution. Either way you look at it, James writes to all of us to encourage each of us on how to persevere through tough times by using the principles found in the Word of God. If James were alive today, he would be the kind of person who was very sympathetic toward us. He would be compassionate about all that we are feeling right now and all that we are facing because James cared about people’s pain. I said James was a man who cared about people’s pain. He also knew how essential hope was in our journey, especially when we face hard times.

As human beings, we are built to handle a lot. We can endure a great deal; we can go through much more than we realize. We can endure vast amounts of frustration, aggravation, disappointment, inconveniences, and even pain. What enables us to endure those things is the feeling that there is hope in sight. Hope is often the difference between success and failure; hope is the difference between winning and losing. Hope is often what it takes for us to get back up again. If I can perceive hope, if I can feel the slightest bit of hope, that can make all the difference. You know, a child who is failing in a grade might have one teacher who gives up on them entirely, while another teacher might get in their ear and say, «Listen, you got this! You can handle this; you’re smart!» Often, a child could win or lose based on the words of a teacher, a parent, or a leader in their life who just reminds them that they have the ability to win. Hope is what gives us the ability to get back up again.