Ecclesiastes 1:2-3

 Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher,
     vanity of vanities! All is vanity. 
What do people gain from all the toil
     at which they toil under the sun? 

Even the most avid readers of the bible admit the book of Ecclesiastes is one that collects the most dust.  ☺ The above verses are how it opens. Are there times when these words honestly capture a snapshot of your life?    

Luke 8:22-25

One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side of the lake.’ So they put out, and while they were sailing he fell asleep. A gale swept down on the lake, and the boat was filling with water, and they were in danger.  They went to him and woke him up, shouting, ‘Master, Master, we are perishing!’ And he woke up and rebuked the wind and the raging waves; they ceased, and there was a calm.  He said to them, ‘Where is your faith?’ They were afraid and amazed, and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that he commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him?’

If Jesus were to ask you the same ‘where is your faith’ question that he asked his disciples while inside their rocking boat how would you respond?   Is your faith better off on some days than others?

Colossians 1:27-29

To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. It is he whom we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ.  For this I toil and struggle with all the energy that he powerfully inspires within me.

‘…which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.’   Can you think of a time when ‘hope’ was passed to you?

Romans 8:18-25

I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us.  For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God;  for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.  We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.  For in hope we were saved.  Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen?  But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

‘It is what it is’ is a phrase most often spoken by someone experiencing a rather hopeless situation. What words or deeds might be helpful in moving that person towards a hopeful future.