I listened to this sermon today on hope by John Piper.  It was such an encouragement to me as many aspects of my life right now fall into the category of tribulation.   The loneliness of working in a different culture, the sheer work involved in caring for an infant, homeschooling four other children, doing a rigorous therapy with my daughter who has special needs.  There is also the tension involved in living in a dangerous area.  We trust God for His protection, and He has provided it faithfully, but we are near a city that had a murder every day last year, living in a house without even a phone to call 911(or whatever the emergency number is in Mexico.)  On top of the wondering of whether we are safe is the labor of washing and hanging laundry, emptying the bucket of dishwater and trying to keep a concrete floor clean.   With all these factors rolling like a snowball toward me, I felt discouraged and wishing for an escape from difficulty.

The message on hope is not that things will be instantly easier, but that Christ, who is our hope has walked the path ahead of us.  I don't need to keep looking at the trials, I need to look at Jesus, the author and finisher of my faith, who for the joy set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame and has sat down at the right hand of God. (Hebrews 12)