Is There Any Hope?

It’s hard to live without hope.  I even wonder if it is possible.  The poet said, “Hope springs eternal in the human breast.”  It seems that even in the darkest and most demoralizing of circumstances there remains in each one of us some ray, some vestige, of hope, however distant, that things will somehow get better. 

A losing team looks for its first win, a struggling student works hard to graduate, a couple in a failing marriage seeks counsel or escape, and a father of a family of five tries to find work in a bad economy.  In spite of all indications to the contrary hope for a better day, something positive, some slight improvement and, ultimately, an end to their plight can stay alive even for those who suffer from a debilitating illness, live in a war zone, or are being persecuted and tortured for their faith.

As we look at such situations objectively, we should ask the question:  In what are people putting their hope? …their own best efforts…promises from political leaders…a cure for their disease…someone or some turn of events that will rescue them from their affliction… encouragement from someone who really doesn’t know what will happen…chance? 

As I continue to meditate on Jeremiah 29, I am struck by the futile hope that the Israelis clung to.  Even though they had become captives in a foreign land, their leaders, political and religious, were telling them that it will soon be over.  These were the same leaders who earlier had rejected the warnings of Jeremiah about the impending Babylonian invasion of their homeland, which was now a fact of history.

But God in His loving kindness had given the Israelis a real hope through the prophecies of Jeremiah, “’I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.’”  Notice that He was not promising to give them hope in being rescued by a great army, or in their leaders to broker a deal or lead a rebellion, or in anything they could do for themselves.  The only hope He gave was in His word, ultimately in Him, and in nothing else.  They wanted out of Babylon and to be free from their captors, but that was not His plan for their welfare. 

As always, God seemed to have a remnant of believers who truly trusted Him and were obedient.  Some of those we can read about in other books of the Bible such as Daniel, where we see the impact for good that God brought about, not only to the people of Israel, but to the Babylonians as well, through one man’s faithful walk with Him.  But that is a topic for another discussion.

Have you thought about where you’re putting your hope?  It may well be that you’re not facing any major challenges at the moment, but would it be safe to say you have a lot of hopes each day as you look forward to such things as job promotion, vacation, your children’s special milestones, fun times with friends and family, buying some new clothes or electronic equipment, etc.? 
Maybe this is a good time to ask yourself:  If my hope is not honestly in the Lord for the day-to-day things of life, am I looking for happiness and blessing in the wrong places, and how will I do when a major test comes into my life? 

Someone once observed that if you’re not going through some trial now, you probably recently came through one or are about to enter one.  I believe that the Lord may allow us to enter such times as part of His plan to teach us that all we really need is Him.  In our church we often sing the lines of a contemporary song, “We have all we need in You.  All we need is You.”  But do we really believe that enough to live by it?  When we get to our final hour and are nearing the edge of eternity, we will realize that everything else becomes less than refuse by comparison.   All we will really need is Jesus and He is everything.  I’ve been close to edge and know it’s true.

Yes, “hope does spring eternal” in our hearts because God put that longing in us.  He put eternity in our hearts at creation and made us originally to experience total perfection and goodness, but in Adam we fell and only Jesus can restore us and all of creation.  That is the ultimate hope we have in Him. 

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us…creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.  – Romans 8:18, 21