When it comes to many things in scripture, we often try not to think about it. We stay on our little islands on the parts of the gospels we like, familiar Bible stories, comforting verses, and the 23rd Psalm. All these are good, but there is something for us in the roiling waves of the more perplexing and even scary parts of scripture. As Paul is telling us today in Romans, it all comes together in Jesus. The scriptures are a book of hope in Christ, and in every part of them we should be encouraged in hope.