What is your reason for hope? Late one evening, after finishing the book Looking For Alaska by John Green, that question kept ringing in my ears. What is my reason for hope? In recent years, as I have struggled with internal battles, one question always remains: why continue? Last year I hit my lowest point. After numerous external conflicts, I had suddenly imploded. Instead of turning to Christ, I tried to handle all my difficulties on my own. Within a month I started killing myself, became bulimic and felt completely alone. I didn't let anyone in. I didn't want help. Finally, I faced the harsh reality: it was time for a change. I reached out to my family and friends, revealed my long-hidden secrets, and have been healing ever since. Technically I will always be suicidal and I will always be bulimic, but now I have a reason not to be. I have reason to hope. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your doing; it is the gift of God” In Ephesians 2:8 one of the many reasons for hope appears. Growing up, I always feared that I would never be “good enough” to go to heaven. It is human nature to believe that man's works have an impact. In the grand scheme of things, however, this is evidently not the case. Man is a sinner by nature; man is saved through faith. As mentioned above, it is not my doing but a gift from God. When I struggled with the “whys” in life, I often wondered why God chose to save me. I did nothing to deserve his grace, yet he gave it to me. I felt unworthy of His mercy, as if it were a burden. The gift was too big a gesture that I simply couldn't receive. After praying, I came to a different conclusion. How can I dare not accept such a wonderful gift as God's grace? This epiphany gave me......middle of paper......in Christ. It took a period of utter despair and hopelessness to find my reason for hope. I find that all of life's struggles and desperation create a cause for hope and require the ultimate remedy: Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. In Looking for Alaska, the main character continually struggled with his cause of hope. After losing a good friend, he searched for the “why” in life, the cause of it all and the reason to hope. Unfortunately he was missing a fundamental element: faith. The question that was never answered was what rang in my ears that late night. “What is your reason for hope?” Through my faith in Christ, I hope to find a different outcome for myself. My reason for hope comes from God. It comes from his wonderful, infinite and inexhaustible grace. It comes from His mercy. It comes through the sacrifice of His son. My cause of hope is and always will be God.