New Hope

News from Libya suggests there may be new hope for that troubled land. Wise heads are not expecting to see the fruit of that hope too soon. But there will need to be much perseverance and determination, if genuine progress along the road towards change takes place. This will not be a quick fix.
In the midst of the many troubles around us and within, we mostly hope that a quick fix will solve the problems. But seldom does a New Hope get delivered quickly.
The Old Testament reminds us again and again of New Hope, as God promises to bring about change.
“The day is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves his wife,” says the Lord.
  “But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day,” says the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. And they will not need to teach their neighbours, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already,” says the Lord. “And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.”
The prophet Jeremiah, in about the year 600BC, spoke of the New Covenant that the Lord God had promised. Things were going to be improved and different when compared with the Old Covenant. But it was over 600 years before the early Church started to bring the message to others! This was no quick fix! But we can see, with the benefits of hindsight, that God is faithful, and we can trust Him, whether the wait is short or long, to deliver on the New Hope promises. That encourages me. I hope you too are encouraged, whatever the struggles you face today.
Best wishes,
Richard