A child is hoping mom is going to pick-up him up after school, and dad comes instead. A parent hopes her child is going to have a good day at school and then hears she got into a disagreement and pushed a friend. You hope that parent meeting after-school will go smoothly, only to have it end with more questions than answers. In this world, it’s easy to be disappointed, to be let down, to be worn out, to be disillusioned when things don’t go as we expect or as we want. It’s easy for our hope to be broken.

And, too often, we place our hope, our expectations, in the wrong things – money, friends and family, possessions, vacation days, a new job opportunity. While all of those things are wonderful blessings from God, there is no certainty in them. They cannot assure us of happiness, of contentment, or of peace, and when we put our hope in earthly things, we are bound to be disappointed.

After his death on the cross, Jesus’ disciples were feeling disappointment and loss. They had thought Jesus had come to make their life under Roman rule better. They had hoped Jesus was going to give them earthly freedom and victory. And then, Jesus was dead, and along with it, their hope … until Jesus rose from the dead and their hope was restored! Jesus hadn’t come to merely solve a temporary earthly problem, he had come to forgive sin, to end guilt, to destroy death. His resurrection proved that he had succeeded, that sin and death were defeated.

And what was true for his disciples then remains true for us today. In Jesus, we have a sure and certain hope. We have peace with God. We have full and free forgiveness. We have a heavenly home to look forward to. God doesn’t promise us we’ll be wealthy or free from illness or have an easy life. He promises something much better – life with him – and because of Jesus’ resurrection, we can be absolutely certain that nothing, not even death, can take that away. He is the one thing we can place our hope in without fear of disappointment.

We can confess our sins and receive God’s forgiveness. We can trust God’s plans and timing for our lives. We can thank God for his blessings. We can dig into his Word and cling to his promises to us. We can live in peace despite the earthly obstacles that stand in front of us. We can expect that God will meet all our needs in the way he knows is best. We can look ahead in hope to our eternal home in heaven. May God remind you of his love and restore your hope this Easter season!