Where is the Hope?
Well, now that we have become an Obama nation (not quite the same as “abomination”) and as elections start to loom in the distance, I hear people saying: “how’s that hope thing working out for you?”. The last presidential election was, after all, centered on “hope” and “change”. But I’m not writing about campaign strategies or critiquing the performance of our statesmen. I’m focused on our need for hope as individuals.
Where is the hope? I see and sometimes feel a great absence of hope as marriages struggle, finances crumble, and life-long vocations teeter. One co-worker of mine despairingly acknowledged current events and trends with a corollary statement of “might as well have a drink and not think about it”. In other words, find your drug of choice and pretend there’s no problem to fix. While I acknowledge that avoidance can be a valid short-term tactic, it’s a dangerous long-term strategy. Healthy organizations openly discuss issues that need to be addressed, otherwise these difficulties build upon each other. As families and individuals, we need to discuss and take action.
So while the times are perilous and uncertain, this is not a unique circustance to our lifetime; it has always been part of the human condition. The author J.R.R. Tolkien experienced immense personal loss. Orphaned as a child and a participant in World War I, he lived through a devastation that many of us could never comprehend. Still, he concluded that hope is a decision. It is a decision to never despair – to not give up hoping! There is always hope, because you can always choose hope over despair. Hope because you can and because it is preferable to hope’s antithesis: despair.
Shakespeare’s fictional character, Hamlet, found himself void of hope and despairing of the circumstances as he considered the famous question: “To be or not to be?” He accepted that while it is surely more noble to fight the good fight, it is so much easier to lay down all efforts to a life and a world that is so difficult… unless this world is not all there is!
To die, to sleep— To sleep—perchance to dream. Ay, there's the rub! For in that sleep of death what dreams may come, When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause — there's the respect That makes calamity of so long life.
~ Hamlet (Act III, Scene 1)
My take, is that fear of the after-life drives Hamlet to his only other option: persevere. And while I personally disagree with the motivation, fear can still lead to the right outcome. Religion promotes this motivation with doctrines on suicide because some people have incorrectly concluded that we should just propel ourselves into a “better world”. The doctrine goes something like this: “if you kill yourself, you go to hell. Period. End of story.”
I confess that this traditional teaching really messed with me when my cousin committed suicide. I loved my cousin, and when his despair overtook his life, I cried. In fact, as I write this even now my eyes fill with tears. But a friend of mine rightly pointed out that suicide is never mentioned in the Bible as an unpardonable sin. So does that mean it’s okay to take one’s life? Of course not! Why would any of us want to live in eternity with knowledge of all the relinquished victories we could have claimed for the kingdom? How much does this world depend upon YOU right now, in this place and time? God our Father has chosen YOU as His instrument of peace and weapon for victory, both for yourself and others’ sake. As Paul wrote: “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” (Phil 1:21 NIV)
Fear is a poor motivator, and I believe in a better way. We have purpose. We have been chosen with purpose. And in light of our purpose, we can expect resistance along the way. In fact, sometimes the fact that we experience resistance is evidence that we are on the right path. (Think about that for a moment.) Is it hard to spend time with God? Is it hard to love others? Is it hard to hope, thinking about failed expectations? In all honesty, I’d have to answer all these questions with a “yes”.
But then again, I wonder if maybe these are the wrong questions to ask. Rather than questioning “is it hard…” shouldn’t we be asking “is it worth it?”. Even more emphatically, I answer: “Yes!”. It is worth it to fight for a GOOD marriage even if it’s hard. It’s worth every effort that strives for a better life… both for oneself and one’s family. It’s worth the exertion as we seek to make this world a better place and to resist evil in all its myriad forms. It’s what good men do. With Tolkien I assert “there is always hope”!
And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, Whom he has given us.
~ Romans 5:5 (NIV)
Our hope is not in this world. Hope transcends circumstances, and it does not lead to disappointment when we allow God’s ever-flowing love to enter our hearts. The great men of faith hoped for what their eyes would never even see in this life. And the hope they had, that hope which is ours to embrace today, comes from faith, which is itself a gift from God. (Eph 2:8)
So where is your hope? Is it in the failing strength of the hands of man, or is it in a truly Sovereign God, Who loves you and continues to demonstrate that love regardless of your behavior. He continues to offer you peace and reconciliation, even when you declare war against Him and His ways. He alone has the power and the knowledge to redeem every situation, and His love continues to pour out for you, in you and through you.
So there is hope in the midst of despair… there is always hope!
