Acts 28: There is Always Hope

Three days later he called together the leaders of the Jews. When they had assembled, Paul said to them: “My brothers, although I have done nothing against our people or against the customs of our ancestors, I was arrested in Jerusalem and handed over to the Romans. 
They examined me and wanted to release me, because I was not guilty of any crime deserving death. 
But when the Jews objected, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar —not that I had any charge to bring against my own people. 
For this reason I have asked to see you and talk with you. It is because of the hope of Israel that I am bound with this chain.” - Acts 28:17-20 NIV

After much opposition in Jerusalem, being brought before the different rulers and being shipwrecked, Paul finally arrives in Rome to learn his fate.  The first thing he does is call together the leaders of the Jews and present the gospel to them.  He is bound in chains, yet he can speak to them of hope, the hope of Israel. 

It is often when we are in chains that we are able to convey hope the best.  Years ago I had a friend who was the only Christian in her family.  She witnessed to them for years to no avail.  Then one, day, she was diagnosed with cancer and began the long and painful process of being healed.  In the midst of her ordeal, one of her family members told her 'you know, we have listened to you talk about your faith for years, but it is now, while you are going through this crisis that we see your faith is real.'  We are called to be witnesses of the good news, and that good news often is most inviting when we ourselves are undergoing our most excruciating trials.  It is in our weakness we display the Lord's power.  As Paul himself said,

Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.   That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong - 2 Cor. 12:8-10 NIV

Rather than trying to break our chains, we should remember that often, it is because of the hope of Israel that we are bound in chains...to show that there is hope.  There is always hope.