Life is hard.
The more you are aware, the more you care, the harder it is, it seems.
If you want to get up, indulge in self, and go to sleep at night thinking about no one or nothing other than yourself or your little world, you can probably watch the news, yell at the t.v., go to bed and live a relatively pain free life.
Sure, we all have our problems, many, many of them are serious problems.
From drugs to death to sickness to financial issues, many people in the USA struggle every day.
They struggle within the confines of their homes and their hometowns.
But there is struggling going on too outside of those confines.
From inner cities to reservations to foreign countries people are dealing with the same struggles and issues that you are. It may surprise some, but people of different colors, religions, and regions are not too much different from each other.
I have found that people want to work, they want to have a family, they want to make life better for their children, they want to love and to be loved, they want to be appreciated and they want to live a life of meaning.
It's no different here than it is in Indonesia, Kenya, Iceland or Macedonia.
Life is hard; here and there.
Before I became a follower of the Nazarene, I looked for fulfillment in many things from alcohol to women to many indulgences of self.
And they never provided long lasting fulfillment.
Sure, I had some fun but it was so fleeting and the hollowness following was not worth it.
I am here to tell you that Jesus provides hope and hope is a strong anchor for our lives.
He provides hope when you are dealing with horrific situations or living in a way that seems like there is no future.
I promise, He provides hope.
He turns drug addicts into counselors and he puts smiles in children who live in slums.
Jesus will not cure all ills, he will not fix every problems in a moments notice, but he will provide that hope...
Because...
Life is hard.
It's is easier with Jesus Christ and the hope of this life he provides, but also for the hereafter knowing that this is not our final destination.
