It teaches us to . . . live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope. (Titus 2:12–13)
Expanded Passage: Titus 2:11-14
Lloyd John Ogilvie, who became chaplain of the US Senate, was vacationing in Scotland. One afternoon, he decided to hike along the rugged coast without telling anyone where he was going. He plunged ahead in spite of the rain, the wind, and the waves crashing on the rocks.
As he jumped from one wet rock to another, his foot slipped, and his leg became jammed between two giant boulders. He tried to free himself, but his leg collapsed “like limp spaghetti.” When he managed to pull it out, he discovered he could not put any weight on it, and later learned it was broken in several places.
Miles from any other human, he knew he could die in the cold before anyone looked for him or discovered him.
So he prayed. As he did, a plan came to him. By pushing himself backward with his hands, like a crab, he could make progress. The pain was severe. But he remembered the verse about God giving us “hope and a future” (Jer. 29:11).
He felt God was telling him, “You are not finished! I am your hope!”
It stopped raining, and he saw three people in the distance. One was a doctor who summoned a farmer with a vehicle and took Lloyd to a hospital. Out of that experience Lloyd developed a stronger hope and a deeper assurance of God’s presence.
Put your hope in God and trust in his future for you.
Ron McClung is a retired minister in The Wesleyan Church who enjoys writing and loves interacting with his large family.
© 2026 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
