Elusive Hope
By Judy Fussell
Eat honey, my son, for it is good; honey from the comb is sweet to your taste. Know also that wisdom is like honey for you: If you find it, there is a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off. Proverbs 24:13-14
I was happy to put 2019 behind me as I pondered events of that year and looked longingly into 2020. Our daughter and son-in-law had completed their dream home and were a few days from moving in when it burned to the ground. Everything was lost. Sometime later, there was a major family rift where feelings were hurt, communications were cut off and misunderstandings threatened to keep us separated forever. Then my husband’s health took a dive. Heart surgery was a necessity when it was discovered that his heart function had decreased following a major heart attack two years prior.
The word HOPE became my personal word of choice for the New Year. January dawned and it brought Covid-19 fears with devastating effects physically, economically and socially. Rioting, violence, looting and the injustice of mankind to one another soon followed with unbelievable scenarios captured on social media and the nightly news! The nation is polarized as each side pushes its own agenda by skewing facts, twisting words and lashing out with anger and hatred!
As chaos abounds, I have to ask, is hope elusive? Will some sense of justice and order ever return? While focusing on present circumstances and events, it appears that evil rules and is having its way. Has my hope turned to hopelessness? I think not.
The dictionary defines hope as a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen. This hope is not based on truth. It is pretty much wishing for something that may or may not be. However, if my hope is based on the truth of God’s word, I have confidence in His character, sovereignty, faithfulness, mercy, justice, and love. It is a certain foundation for hope to be alive in my heart. Romans 15:13 states, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Do not be dismayed fellow Christian. “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 1:9. As long as people refuse to accept the love and authority of the One who holds the answers to all of the world’s trouble, there will be unrest, conflict, hardship, turmoil, and pain. It begins in the heart of an individual determined to go his/her own way, spreads into the family unit and pollutes all in its path.
Our troubles do not disappear as Christ followers. We have been assured of that in scripture. Jesus himself reminds us in John 16:33, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” In the ancient writings from Psalms, we see another who finds the source of hope in his affliction. David’s words are as true for us in this time as for him then when he writes in Psalm 119:48-50, “And I shall lift up my hands to your commandments, which I love; and I will meditate on your statutes. Remember the word to your servant, in which you have made me hope. This is my comfort in my affliction, that your word has revived me.”
Hope is alive and its reward is joy and peace. If you are feeling hopeless during these most difficult times, remember where real hope is found. Go there and let the God of hope fill and sustain you. Be revived and comforted by His absolute Truth.
Father, uncertainty is knocking at the door. Often it seems that things can’t get worse, and they do! We, Your people, find fear threatening to pull us down into the pits. Take us, Lord, to the heights with You. Teach us, grow us and make us more like You. Give us satisfaction in You, that You may be glorified! Amen
Listen to and meditate on the words to Great Are You Lord by Casting Crowns.
© 2020 by Judy Fussell. All rights reserved.
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