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TO COPE IS NOT HOPE
A Time to Choose

A Commentary by Constance Vanides

The world tells us to "cope" when difficulties come upon us. The word in Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary alludes to coping as a struggle, just to get by, and implies attempting to attack our problems with difficulty and on our own.

We might look to analysis and delve into our past to perhaps discover what went wrong. We are told to be willing to change our ways and seek a solution with not much help. There is a better way!

The Christian orientation is to change the first letter from "c" to "h", creating hope and discovering the answer to living our life most effectively. Hope is latching on to the One who is our help--Jesus Christ. It is in Him we can trust and believe in the obtainable. In Him we can have hope. He loves us. He cares about us. He knows what we need. In Him we can have hope.

The psalmist states with conviction,
"The LORD is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid?" (Psalm 27:1)

And Jesus tenderly responds,
"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30)

The writer of Hebrews tells us, "...for the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope through which we draw near to God." (Hebrews 7:19)

Then we can say with the Apostle Peter, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope..." (1 Peter 1:3)

Finally, the Apostle Paul encourages us with these words to the Romans,
"Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." (Romans 15:13)

What then? Shall you continue coping on your own, just managing to get by, constantly striving to survive? Or, shall you choose life through the One who loves you so much to give His life for you?

If you are interested, you can see an alphabetical listing of most of this website's Contemplation Pages at Contemplation Pages Archive

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