Sunday marks the anniversary of a great exercise in hope. On April 18, 1942, Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle led the first bombing raid on Tokyo in World War II. 16 B-25 bombers, normally land-based planes, took off from the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Hornet. That incredibly difficult mission was an exercise in hope. Coming 5 months after Pearl Harbor, Doolittle's raid encouraged America to sacrifice toward victory.
Activate hope in your life. Grow it with the conviction that the Christ who conquered death can certainly bring you through present problems to a heavenly victory. Apply it to the special problems in your life. Pray it for others and for our troubled world. Hope, without specific prescriptions but with this confidence: "For those who love God all things work together for good" (Romans 8:28). Hope is a lively thing, says 1 Peter 1:3) when it's focused on the right object, on God who raised Jesus "from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God" (1:21). Out of such hope in the God of resurrection we make our own raids on the enemy of despair. The flowers on last Sunday's lilies are fading, but your hope? Let it bloom!
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