Sometimes when I watch the nightly news, I come away feeling a sense of hopelessness. The problems of this world seem so big that I wonder if there are enough people out there to help fix them. What can I, one person, do to make a difference and help add hope to a world that is in such short supply of it?

It seems that if we want to make a difference in the world, we must take action. We must find the problem that touches our heart the most and seek to help in that area. Sometimes we wonder if we would have to organize a solution to the problem, but most of the time someone has gone before us and there is a group of people already working in the area that concerns us.

If we are concerned about hunger, we can find many groups in our community trying to help solve the problem. There are food banks, soup kitchens, senior citizen centers and many church groups working tirelessly to help feed those in need.

Are we upset about the lack of literacy in our young people? Any school in our community would love to have a volunteer teach kids to read. And what about the silent problem, adult literacy? There are places we can volunteer and help an adult learn to read and write. Opening the world of books to an adult can be one of the most rewarding experiences we will ever have.

I know seeing the homeless on the street bothers each one of us. We can volunteer at our local rescue mission or homeless shelter and help give someone a hot meal and a place to sleep at night.

If we want to help kids rescued from sex trafficking, we must do a little digging to find where to help. Most of the organizations that help these precious kids are quietly working behind the scenes  to provide safe homes and counseling to help restore their bodies and their souls.

And let’s not forget to keep our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Someday he will return to earth to set things right. A time is coming when there will be no more death, crime, sickness, hunger or war. Nature will be redeemed and the lion will lay down with the lamb. There is always hope…let’s keep looking up and in the meantime do our best to give hope to others and we will find hope rising up in our own hearts.