Daily Reading // 2 Corinthians 1:1-7
READY // SILENCIO
Take a moment to quiet your mind and prepare your heart for your time with the Lord.
READ // LECTIO
Read the passage above up to three times aloud. Allow yourself to feel the words as they are read.
REFLECT // MEDITATIO
Now direct your focus on the words, phrases concepts or sentences that got your attention. What is God speaking to you today through His word?
2 Corinthians 1:7 (ESV) Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.
Paul expresses hope for his friends in Corinth. Not only that, but he says his hope for them is unshaken. Unshaken by the mistakes he corrects in his first epistle. Unshaken by the mixed reports he was hearing about them. Unshaken by the way some in Corinth we’re speaking badly about him.
There is nothing like an unshaken hope. When your hope is shaken, what is left? A person can endure a great deal as long as hope remains. Hope for something great in the future.
When I went to Army basic training it was eight weeks long. (Though it seemed longer.) It wasn’t fun. The thing that got me through was knowing it was only eight weeks long. I kept telling myself, “I can endure anything for eight weeks. After that, things will improve.” That is a type of hope. Hope keeps you going.
Hope has to be solid to be unshaken. It can’t be circumstantial or untrustworthy. It has to hold up.
Notice this: This hope wasn’t suffer-free. Sometimes hope is lost when suffering comes. This Hope was able to hold on through the suffering to the hope on the other side.
I want unshakable hope!
RESPOND // ORATIO
Pray in response to what the Lord has spoken to you.
Jesus, You came to give me hope for the future and for eternity. You didn’t promise me life would be suffer-free, but there would be comfort on the other side. I trust in You. My hope is strong. Amen.
Tomorrow’s reading -> 2 Corinthians 1:8-14