Holding Hope and Taking Action

As the nation prepares to vote next week, we’re revisiting some thoughts from our 2024 election guide.

Holding Hope and Taking Action

This is a time for active hope. We hope for good things, and we also get our hands dirty trying to make them happen. We can cheer from the sidelines and fervently long for the best results, but we also have to step into the ring. Active hope is independent of probable outcomes. Even if we can't imagine how this complicated mess could possibly end well, we can do the next good thing and trust that love will reveal a way. No matter the results, we won’t despair. We’ll know that we did what we could in the name of love. 

In the days to come
Pray for open eyes to see where God is working and brave hands to join in that work.
Pray for courage to take action even while we trust God’s loving work to carry on all around us.
Pray for God’s Kingdom on Earth to become more and more visible every day.

Considers these words in James 2:14-17 (The Voice Translation)
 
Brothers and sisters, it doesn’t make any sense to say you have faith and act in a way that denies that faith. Mere talk never gets you very far, and a commitment to Jesus only in words will not save you. It would be like seeing a brother or sister without any clothes out in the cold and begging for food, and saying, “Shalom, friend, you should get inside where it’s warm and eat something,” but doing nothing about his needs—leaving him cold and alone on the street. What good would your words alone do? The same is true with faith. Without actions, faith is useless. By itself, it’s as good as dead.