How to Find Hope in Life’s Unpredictable Trials

Catherine, the Princess of Wales, announced yesterday that she has completed chemotherapy for her cancer. However, she added, “My path to healing and full recovery is long, and I must continue to take each day as it comes.” In other news, the widow of hockey star Johnny Gaudreau announced her pregnancy with their third child at yesterday’s memorial service for Johnny and his brother, Matthew Gaudreau. Matthew’s widow is pregnant with their first child. The brothers were killed while riding their bikes the day before their sister was to be married.

These stories remind us that life is fragile and unpredictable for us all. Royalty and celebrity are no guarantee that the hardest parts of our broken world will not find us.

But in those hard places, God will.

How?

“To Meet People Where They Are”

The Baltimore Orioles recently held their first-ever Faith Night event. Six players shared the story of their commitment to Christ and a band led thousands of fans in worship. At least eighteen Major League Baseball teams hosted similar nights last year.

The media campaign “He Gets Us” is working with many of these events and advertises at various games as well. A spokesman explains that their goal is “to reintroduce people to the Jesus of the Bible and his confounding love and forgiveness.” He adds: “The best way to do that is to meet people where they are. That is why you see our ads at a variety of events, including sporting events.”

Christian filmmakers are following a similar strategy. The Wall Street Journal reports that “religious movies are sweeping Hollywood,” surprising the world with “a series of box office hits.” From The Chosen, one of the most popular series in the world, to a variety of films about various aspects of faith, such content is becoming so popular that “rich investors are pouring in millions.”

And, as Ryan Denison reports in a recent Denison Forum article, Christian music is also growing in remarkable ways at a time when many in secular radio are struggling. He notes that when Christians record music with excellence, this “earns the chance for [their] message to be heard.”

When the Church Will Change the Culture

Yesterday, we discussed the privilege of using our personal influence to take the gospel to our broken culture. The urgency of doing so is highlighted by this day in history.

On September 10, 2001, nineteen jihadists were making final preparations for launching the deadliest terrorist attack in US history. Obviously, none of their victims had any idea on this day that they would die in such a horrific manner.

This fact should cause us to ask: What about tomorrow don’t we know today?

The answer: everything.

One day will be the last day for each of us, either because of our death or our Lord’s return. None of us knows when that day will come. But all of us can know that we are one day closer than ever before.

The best way to prepare for eternity tomorrow is to live for eternity today. It is to love our Lord so fully that his love transforms and empowers us to love our neighbor (Matthew 22:37–39). Such transforming love is vitally urgent for this simple reason:

The church will change the culture to the degree that Christ changes the church.

Why is this?

When “Missions Will Be No More”

Noted pastor and author John Piper famously wrote: “Missions exist because worship doesn’t.” He explained:

Worship is ultimate, not missions because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more.

Piper is right, as any reading of Revelation 7 and other biblical glimpses of heaven will demonstrate. But I think his oft-quoted words can be taken another way as well: If we truly worship Jesus, we will love him so deeply that we will share him with the world out of the natural overflow of our lives. The programs and strategies we call “missions” will then be less needed because billions of Christians will be missionaries where they live, as they live.

As a result, we will become the change we need to see. Our lives will be the powerful and persuasive proof of our message, drawing others to Christ through his magnetic and magnificent work in and through us (cf. Colossians 1:27).

And we will be empowered to share the gospel sacrificially. When we truly love Jesus, we love everyone he loves—and he loves everyone. We then pay any price to share his grace with those we love.

A Closing Question

How can we love Jesus in such a transforming way? When we submit fully to his Spirit (Ephesians 5:18), he manifests “love” in our lives as the first of his “fruit” (Galatians 5:22). And this love is not only for our neighbor—it is also for our Lord.

So, when last did you invite the Holy Spirit to help you love Jesus more deeply than ever before?

Why not today?

*Denison Forum does not necessarily endorse the views expressed in these stories.