How is your hope holding up?

We are sliding down the other side of 2025. The year is half over plus a couple of days. How has this year worked out for you and for those you love? Has it been a good year thus far?

I know some folks who are struggling with hanging on to their hope. There are hopeless situations being lived by folks we see and know. They might not say anything about it, but on the inside hopelessness is like a darkness extinguishing any light coming into their life. Perhaps you are overwhelmed with a sense of hopelessness.

The Apostle Paul wrote, “Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” And hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” (Romans 5: 3-5)

This story will help.

In an art gallery, a tour group stood before a painting titled “Checkmate” by Friedrich Moritz August Retzsch. The scene depicts a young man playing chess with the devil. The devil wears a smug grin, convinced he’s won. The young man looks defeated—his soul seemingly lost in this symbolic match.

The story goes that one man stood and stared at the painting as his tour group moved into a different room. After counting heads, the tour guide noted a missing guest. He backtracked and found the man intensely staring at the work of art.

The man told the tour guide, “They need to rename this painting.”

The man viewing the painting was a chess master.

He said, “It’s not checkmate. The king has one more move!”

In every situation in your life, in the life of a loved one, King Jesus has one more move!