Can We Live in Hope?

“In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”  -Jesus (John 16:33)

I know a 92-year-old man living in a senior living community where my father lives. After the COVID outbreak, bans were placed by the State upon any outside visitations in these communities, even by family. Those bans are still in force five months later. He remarked to me after a month of isolation and little hope that anything might change soon saying, “I would rather die from COVID than not be able to live. I am a prisoner, barred from touching a hand or looking into the eyes of those I love face to face. This is not living as we were meant to live! Even so, I can emphatically say that my hope is not shackled by State regulations.”

While you may not be experiencing the imposed isolation that is an unjust daily reality of many of our elderly, the year 2020 has given us all a taste of ‘trouble’ such as Jesus spoke of in John 16. There is plenty of trouble in the world, and believers are not exempt. The uncertainly surrounding what the future will look like can easily lead to feelings of hopelessness. So, how do we live in hope in the midst of our troubles? 

Promise Thinking vs. Positive Thinking

First of all, real hope is not the result of positive thinking. It is the result of promise thinking. Promise thinking is not self-actuated—I will think positive thoughts. Rather, it is rooted in a deep belief in the goodness and sovereignty of God, and in His promise of eternal life when there will be no more sorrow or sickness. 

Unfortunately, our children and grandchildren are growing up in a world where, even if God is acknowledged, He is usually considered irrelevant and detached. And heaven? Such a notion of a perfect after-life is either not taken seriously (a myth formed out of a desperate creation of man’s imagination), or as something we need not worry about (after all, God is love). The first view leaves mankind with nothing but a nihilistic, man-centered philosophy of life devoid of hope in a ruthless and turbulent world. The second presents a false sense of hope without any foundation.

When true hope is absent, our hearts grow weary and die. Without a spiritual compass to point us heavenward and to a Savior, we wander through life forgetting that genuine hope does not come from trying to make a better life or finding a way to cope with disappointment. Hope is the outcome of believers by faith resting in God who made us and loves us with an everlasting love. It is forged in the knowledge that His promise to never leave us or forsake us is certain, and firmly built upon His promise of a heavenly home where all troubles cease. 

So, when Jesus says “take heart!”, he is really saying “have hope!” How? By remembering that Jesus has overcome the world. He is the Risen Christ who even now is preparing a place for us. He is also preparing to return as Conqueror and King who will bring judgement upon those who have rejected Him and claim those who have chosen to believe and walk in faith. I know there are those who don’t want to believe that, but that doesn’t change the fact it is true. For those who believe, we live in the certainty of hope when all will be redeemed and restored to what God intended life to be before the Fall. 

Yet, as wonderful as that promise of a future heavenly home is for us, the world needs to see the hope we have impacting how we live now. Our hope is not in some false notion that we ca avoid troubles and hardship if we just have positive thoughts. It is pressing on because we know what is certain even though we cannot see it now. Through our troubles hope gives us the strength to persevere knowing the One who promised that hope secured it through the sacrifice of His own life for those who believe.

FAN THE FLAME

Does the next generation know why such hope resides in you? Write down or record your faith story and the reason for the hope that is in you. Here are a couple of resources to help you in this task:

1. Our Legacy Journal download is a great tool for helping you write down your personal journey.
2. Passing on Written Legacy by Lana Rockwell. Lana will help you learn how to capture your life stories through a very simple process.
3. My Hope to You: a platform created by Merlin and Theresa Buhl to help you capture your faith story in a beautifully bound book with your stories and pictures.

 “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.”  – Edward Mote