Beautiful People, 

My soul is embedded in hope, hope in Christ’s faithfulness. This is by choice, by design. Hope is a choice that sometimes doesn’t make sense due to our prevailing circumstances. Jeremiah 29:11 is a good example of prevailing and embedded hope. The context, or prevailing circumstance, of Jeremiah 29 finds the Israelites in captivity. Jeremiah, by the inspiration of God, writes a letter to the captives in Babylon to stir up hope and faith in God’s faithfulness. In the context of their pain and misery, God says, “choose to prosper.” Choose to build homes, plant gardens, marry, increase in number, and prosper (Jeremiah 29:5-7).

God is embedding hope in a dire situation—hope that is actualized through a conscious choice to prosper and do good.

Dire situations heighten the need for hope, faith, and love. I believe that God calls us to live in hope, hope that His faithful character will carry us through hardship. And why would He do this? Because He loves us. His love will prosper, protect, and give us hope and a future. My Beautiful Friends, God is faithful even when our circumstances say otherwise. My prayer for us as a campus, regardless of where this Friday finds us, is to embed our hope in Christ’s faithfulness. As we do that, let us live with a mindset of prosperity in the goodness of God. Let us live out our hope, faith, and love.

Happy Sabbath, my beautiful friends.