The hymn, ‘Hark, my soul, it is the Lord’ by William Cowper has held a special place in my heart from my childhood, and it was no surprise that when I started writing this message, I was drawn to the third and fourth verses, which goes like this:

³ Can a woman’s tender care, cease towards the child she bare? Yes, she may forgetful be, yet will I remember thee.

⁴ Mine is an unchanging love, higher than the heights above, deeper than the depths beneath, free and faithful, strong as death.

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Janice’s all-time favourite song is Good Grace by Hillsong United. It happens to be one of the few songs she doesn’t mind playing on repeat. The song never caught up with me until recently, when the gift of God’s grace was highlighted to me. The chorus goes like this: Don’t let your heart be troubled, Hold your head up high, Don’t fear no evil, Fix your eyes on this one truth, God is madly in love with you, Take courage, Hold on, Be strong, Remember where our help comes from. The song talks about the courage and confidence we have in God because of God’s good grace. There are countless mentions of the word Grace in Paul’s letters. We casually use it when asked about how we are; we say “by God’s grace”. I found myself so intrigued by it and started asking all these questions.

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The Oxford dictionary has defined hope as “a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen, grounds for believing that something good may happen”. With all that the world is experiencing, it can sometimes feel like the end is here, and all the promises of God are never going to be seen. If I can take you back to New Year’s Day 2020, what was your hope level like concerning the year? I bet it was in the higher range! I am sure you were fired up for the year and ready to conquer the world. How hopeful are you about the rest of the year with everything happening now? Is your current vision for the year being clouded by what you hear on the news or by the promises of God?

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