Alexander Solzhenitsyn was imprisoned in 1945 for criticising Joseph Stalin, enduring eight years in Soviet gulags — starvation, freezing cold, forced labour, and relentless dehumanisation. At his lowest point, he contemplated suicide.

But in the midst of that darkness Solzhenitsyn experienced a profound spiritual awakening, placing his hope in God. After his release in 1953 (shortly after Stalin’s death) he wrote: “It was only when I lay there on rotting prison straw that I sensed within myself the first stirrings of good.”

His faith sustained him, and after release his writings exposed the truth about Soviet oppression, influencing millions.

Hopefully, you and I will never experience what Solzhenitsyn went through. And yet, we are surrounded by evil; by people whose self-interest causes oppression and harm; by world systems and institutionalised corruption with an untold human toll. Welcome to the world in which we live.

But there is hope, a great hope for the future. Writes the prophet to a remnant of God’s people at a time of national and personal fear:

Zechariah 14:9And the LORD will be king over all the earth. On that day the LORD will be one and his name one. (ESV)

Sooner or later, this world will come to an end. Perhaps next Thursday … or in another 2,000 years. But it will come to an end. God will judge the living and the dead. Jesus will return. He will take His rightful place as King over all the earth.

And on that day there will be absolutely no doubt that the Lord will be one and his name will be one. He will take His rightful place and reign over all.  That’s the hope that we have in Jesus Christ.

And that’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.