Hope Remains

Fires devour homes. Floods submerge towns. Tornados mangle vehicles and trailers. Earthquakes split the ground and stir up tsunamis. Explosions rip through lives. Headlines frequently cry out the destruction. You and your loved ones may be threatened at some time.

Yet hope remains!

This is a photo of what my sister and her husband discovered atop the ashes of their home leveled by a fire in California.

Whenever hopelessness begins to creep over me, I recall this image. It is a ceramic nightlight, barely a trace of smoke damage on it; a figurine of Jesus, The Good Shepherd, carrying one of His sheep. They have suffered greatly from the fire, yet God has spoken to them clearly about His presence and protection as they themselves survived the fire and as they now walk through recovery.