We all have crises of faith when our paths seems to detour from what we think will happen. The disciples who walked with Jesus, who were taught by Him one-on-one also had a crisis in their faith. When He died on the cross, they felt “lost”. Their teacher, Messiah, leader, and friend was now dead. They didn’t understand what would come next. Even though He told them , “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill Him, and after three days He will rise” (Mark 9:31). But truthfully, they didn’t understand what He was saying: “But they did not understand what He meant and were afraid to ask Him about it” (Mark 9:32). The idea that someone might die and then come back to life again was so fantastic that they just couldn’t grasp it. They had hoped He would overcome the power of the Roman government and establish a new kingdom, and now their hopes of this vanished. They were also filled with fear for their own future.

It’s easy to condemn those disciples—but how often does this happen to us? How often do we doubt God’s Word and act as if it isn’t true? For example, if you are a Christian, you know that Christ has promised to return someday to establish His everlasting kingdom—but how often do you become overwhelmed with fears about the future?

Recent events in the U.S. and across the world have affected many of us. As believers, our hearts should break for what breaks Jesus’ heart, and we mourn with those who mourn. But as we do—keeping our eyes on Jesus by praying and staying in God’s Word, we can find hope for the future. Meditate on what God says in these promises from Scripture and find lasting hope amid a world that can feel hopeless. “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.” (2 Cor. 4:6)

We know His Word is true, and because of that we can say, “Praise 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, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:3-4)

Our hope is in the Lord alone: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Rom. 15:13)

And no matter what we are able to see before us with our limited earthly vision, we know that if we keep our eyes on Jesus, our lives have purpose: His purpose. “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2 Cor. 4:17-18)

We know what the disciples did not know after the death of Jesus: He arose! And because of our faith in the Son, Jesus Christ, we will, too. “By His power God raised the Lord from the dead, and He will raise us also.” (1 Cor. 6:14) So no matter what you see before you today, know that the Lord has a plan for you to give you hope and a future. Rest in that faith!