Where is God When There is a New Hope

No matter your political persuasion, you would have to be under a rock lately to not get at least a little carried away with emotion and excitement by the pomp and circumstance regarding the new President of the United States, Barack Obama. Millions and millions of people across the world watched as many cultural and racial stereotypes were seemingly shattered as he took his oath of office on inauguration day.

Many, if not most, school-aged children tuned in to televisions at school and watched history come alive before their very eyes. Most people will mark this event as a highly monumental day in the history of our nation, and for some, a monumental day in their own lives.

But I have to tell you that I did not tune in to the broadcasts of the inauguration. Part of me wanted to and even planned to, but when I turned on my television, I turned it right back off. Don't get me wrong, there are some very exciting things on the horizon for our nation, but I am troubled with the amount of hope people are putting in to another person.

The fact of the matter is, just as every president before him, President Obama will disappoint us some how, some way, some time. It is inevitable. President Obama is many, many things. He is educated, responsible, popular, a polished speaker, charismatic, intelligent, diplomatic and has many more positive attributes. It is hard to find a reason not to like the guy.

But what he is not is perfect.

Part of the beauty of the digital age is that we are able to keep loose tabs on hundreds of our friends by accessing popular community sites such as My Space and Facebook. I love looking at my status updates on Facebook. I now can see what my friends in different states and even countries are doing in one sentence or less.

Yesterday was no different. Nearly every status update concerned the inauguration of President Obama. My friends were sharing their joy, their tears, their laughs and their new hope in our new president.

And President Obama must realize the enormous pressure he is under - the pressure for perfection, the pressure to deliver his promises, the pressure to save our nation from the evils it is facing. We have seen other good people, even some arguably "better" people, crack under less pressure.

My point in all of this is this: President Obama - no matter how wonderful, how worthy of the title of president, how intelligent, how dedicated, how well-meaning - cannot be our hope. Truly, our only hope in this life is in a man who lived 2000 years ago and died so that we could live. Our only hope in this life is in Jesus Christ.

The Bible tells us in the book of Romans, chapter 4, verses 23-24, "For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious standard. Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins."

We are told over and over throughout scripture, even in the Old Testament, that our hope should not be placed in man but in Christ alone. In fact, in Matthew 12:21, it says, "And his name will be the hope of all the world."

That is, the name of Jesus Christ, not the name of any man.

I believe that President Obama has the power to change many things for the better, and also has the power to change things for the worse. I don't know which will happen, and it will probably depend on who you talk to whether things are better or worse.

Like most every American, I am excited and somewhat anxious to see what the future holds for our country. I am excited and anxious to see what the economy does and how it will affect me. I am excited and anxious to see if further peace can be reached and maintained in areas of conflict. I am excited and anxious to see where we are four years from now.

But my hope is not in my president, my country or any person or thing. My only hope - your only hope - is really in God's answer to our biggest problem. We sin and have to be punished, and the only answer is Jesus Christ. He is the only solution to an eternity apart from God.

All we have to do is to believe that Christ died for each of our sins, receive the wonderful gift of salvation God has offered to every single person and finally commit our lives to following Him.

And the way won't be easy, because people will continue to disappoint us. How can we not disappoint? We are imperfect. We are sinful. We are lost causes., without the hope only Christ can give us.

Romans 5:15, says, "Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory. We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love."

I encourage you to think about this solution to hope. Be patriotic. Be excited. Be supportive of our new president. But don't put your hope into something that will inevitable disappoint you.

Put your hope in a savior that can be yours, Jesus Christ.