1 Peter chapter 1

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​“3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you,”
God has given an amazing gift when Jesus chose to die for our sins. Through this extraordinary act, we are given a new life. Along with this new life, we are given a living hope. Notice: this is not just hope, it is a living hope. This means that regardless of what you are going through or the situation that you are currently in, Jesus is the hope that keeps you going. Jesus is the hope that brings you to life. In other words, when you realize that in your hopeless state you are dealing with death, addiction, brokenness and despair, leaning on Jesus reinvigorates that hope that you carry within you. 
When you are gifted living hope through the resurrection of Jesus, you are also gifted a heavenly inheritance. A inheritance that will not perish, it will not spoil and it will not fade over time. This is extremely important because too often our human nature is to collect an inheritance that will eventually be worthless and decay. Yet, what Jesus has offered us remains more valuable because it will not decay and its worth will forever be valued and treasured. This inheritance brings us peace, joy and happiness that will never loose value. 
In the times of our darkest moments, we need a hope that we can hold to in order  to remain strong and we need an highly valued inheritance that we can then look forward to for the future; that is what the resurrection of Christ provides us in our new life. 
“7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”
It is in our darkest, most difficult situations that we create and prove the genuineness of our faith. It is in those challenging moments we hold on to Jesus’ promises for own lives and what steps we can take to be closer to Jesus and closer to the living hope that is offered.  Yes, there are times that we look at our situations  and we are struggling to see Jesus working and we will question whether God is even there.  It is in those times that we re-fine our faith and stand strong, knowing that we will experience a joy that is inexpressible when we experience the salvation of our souls in heaven.
Therefore, remain strong in Jesus; remain encouraged through the darkest situations. Know that Jesus has given us something far more valuable than anything that we can accomplish in our lives; we are given a living hope that lifts us from the hardest situations. We are also given an inheritance that we can look forward to as we grow closer to Christ and grow to be more like Christ.