Acts 26:7

Acts 26:7 says, Unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come. For which hope's sake, king Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews.  Paul stated that the twelve tribes of Israel served God day and night in the hope of the promise to come, the Messiah.  We as Christians should serve God day and night in the hope of the promise that has come, Jesus Christ, the Messiah that the Jews looked for.  Paul still based his beliefs on this promise.  We look back and wonder how they could have missed the fulfillment of the promise of God, and yet over two thousand years later, they are still missing the truth.  Of course, we could also ask how so many people in the world today, Gentiles and the Jews, can fail to see the truth.  Paul told King Agrippa that because of his hope in the Messiah he was being persecuted.  Agrippa was familiar with the beliefs of the Jews, and he would be able to see the truth of what Paul was saying.  Sometimes, we have to just patiently wait for God to work out all the details before we can successfully accomplish His will for us.  I am sure Paul's plan for going to Rome did not include being arrested and tried multiple times before he got there.  Yet, we do not read of his questioning God.  We can never be impatient with God.  Verse eight adds, Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead?  Paul asked Agrippa why it should be thought incredible to him that God could raise the dead.  That was the hope of every Jew except the Sadducees.  The knowledge that all of God's people would live with Him eternally was a cornerstone of their faith.  Yet, they were attempting to kill Paul for proclaiming that Christ was raised from the dead, the Messiah they looked for.  Too often people look for the god they want instead of to the God Who is. People are searching for hope today, and they will look everywhere but to God. To find hope in God requires faith in God, and it requires letting go of faith in oneself.  Paul put his life in God's care, and so must we.