Did you know we're at war? No one told me this, but when I look around me it's pretty obvious. We're caught up in a war where darkness seems to be winning. We can't go a day without hearing about some sort of injustice and brokenness.
We're fighting for hope in a very broken world.
hope: a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen
When we're faced with trials and tragic circumstances we have two options. We can either hope for the better or fall into the trap of hopelessness.
Hope perseveres. Hopelessness gives up.
Hope trusts. Hopelessness is skeptical.
Hope leads to life. Hopelessness leads to death.
I'm a pretty pessimistic person. I try to be very logical and realistic about the realities of life so it's pretty difficult for me to be positive when my seemingly unfair circumstances are constantly dancing in front of me.
I have scoliosis and it looks like I'm not getting better. It's hard to hope when the realities of my x-rays tell me this is impossible to heal.
I'm single and have been for my whole life. I feel like I'll never get married. It's better to sul about it than to hope I'll meet someone.
I'm running in circles in regards to my career and I can't see anything practical in the near future. I'm at a tipping where maybe I should just settle for a safe job rather than go after my dreams.
I like to protect myself from any disappointment. Isn't it better to prevent any further pain when you're already hurting? I like to think so.
Yet, the message of hope seems to be telling me otherwise. I think of Jairus from the Bible. His daughter was dying and he comes to Jesus hoping that Jesus can do something. He was desperate. But while Jesus is on his way to see the girl, there's a roadblock. A woman, also desperate to be healed, touches Jesus and gets healed. Instead of continuing on with his journey, Jesus stops to communicate with this woman. If I were Jairus at this moment, I'd be so anxious and annoyed. I'd be so worried that with every passing minute my daughter would be closer to death.
While this is all happening, someone from Jairus' house comes and says, "Your daughter is dead; do not trouble the Teacher any more." Voice of hopelessness. Voice of reality. What amazes me is how Jesus responds. On hearing this Jesus replies, "Don't be afraid; just believe and she will be healed." Voice of hope.
What the? She's dead. She doesn't need healing! She's dead. That's it. It's game over. Jesus' words don't make sense. Jesus speaks hope against the voice of hopelessness. There's such a sharp contrast between these two voices. Jesus looks at the overwhelming odds and works against it.
The enemy is constantly trying to overwhelm us with odds. What he's forgotten is that we are a people of living hope and truth. We don't live in reality and statistics, but we are fighting for hope.
Listen and hear his gentle voice of hope. It's going to sound ridiculous. It won't make any sense. It might even make us angry. Hope wins against all odds. Always. Even when it seems like we're losing, his truth is always victorious.
Who are you listening to?
1 Peter 1:3
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead
