Today is Saturday, July 14, 2018. Hi, my name is Adam Burton, and you are listening to The Daily Devo, a short devotional designed to help you apply God's word to your life. The content comes from the Gospel Project. Think a few moments and read 1 Thessalonians, chapter 4, verse 13, through chapter 5 verse 11.
Many of us are captivated by stories of survival, like the story of Ernest Shackleton's Antarctic expedition of 1914 through 1916. In January 1915, the cruise ship, the Endurance, became frozen in an ice flow on the way to Antarctica. Hope that the ship would eventually break free of the ice and sail onward, ended when the hole was crushed in the ship's sink. The cruise set up camp on the ice and drifted until the ice sheet began to break apart in April 1916.
They then set off in lifeboats and reached Elephant Island, where Shackleton left them and took five others to find help. The six spent 16 days crossing 1,300 kilometers of open ocean before reaching South Georgia, crossed the island and reached a whaling station. The rest of the crew was rescued in August 1916 without a single man perishing. When we read stories such as Shackleton's, we wonder and marvel at how they survived.
What is it that enabled them to endure when so many others would not have? Maybe Admiral James Stockdale answered this question best when he explained the key to his survival as a prisoner of war. As was the mixture of unwavering hope, he would survive in the ability to confront the brutal facts of his situation. Never losing hope is key to survival.
Hope sustains life, even in the most difficult situations, while losing hope hastens death. That is the power of hope. Think about this. How has hope sustained you through difficult situations?
What are you going through right now that requires hope? If you are in need of prayer, please get in touch with me. I would love to pray for you. You can connect with me on social media or shoot me an email at Adam at Adamburton.net.
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