The Power of Hope

What is it about human beings that make us so fickle… to change our way of thinking in an instant if circumstances warrant?

There I was last Friday night, gathered with 28,000 other football fans to see our local team’s home opener. But things weren’t going well, and by the 4th quarter, after a score that seemed to all but ‘seal the deal’ for the visiting squad, a quiet had descended on the faithful throng. Our guys couldn’t move the ball… even the shortest distance seemed to take forever, we needed two major scores to pull ahead… AND our kicker was injured, so no chance of scoring that way! Plus, we were up against the clock, and seconds were turning to minutes faster than a greased mongoose through a pack of hunting dogs!!! It looked, well… hopeless.

Suddenly, against the run of play, our team scored a miraculous long touchdown, and even though only less than two minutes remained, the entire building erupted into a frenzy… we all believed that maybe… just maybe… a miracle could happen here!!! The noise that continued for the remainder of the match was a display of eager anticipation of something ‘good’ that might happen.

As I sat and watched this unfold, and knowing that I was caught up in it, I had to marvel at the power of hope as a motivator! On a recent trip to Europe with my family, we stopped at the Anne Frank Museum, and heard the story of the Jewish family who hid from the Nazi’s in occupied Holland in the Second World War. After two years they were discovered, and sent to a concentration camp. She persevered there for seven months in horrid conditions, but shortly after the death of her sister, she too succumbed…. sadly, only a few short weeks before the British troops liberated that camp. At the museum they inferred that she had lost hope; that if she’d known her liberators were near, she could have persevered!

How many of us, who hold to our Christian faith, lean on that ultimate hope of Heaven and deliverance in the face of our own challenging circumstances? I see it at funerals and memorial services where I’m involved often with grieving families. In stark contrast, those without faith in God appear shaken to the core. The best they can muster is to remember the past, for the future is not an ally to them.

This past weekend in church, after having had my Friday night ‘football’ lesson, Pastor Vic prayed (somewhat prophetically perhaps) that people would have ‘hope’ in their circumstances. Then Regan Hiebert shared a song that God had put on his heart, and which we’d prepared on Thursday.

There’s a peace I’ve come to know
Though my heart and flesh may fail
There’s an echo in my soul
I can sing, “It is well”

Jesus, has overcome
And the grave is overwelmed
The victory is won, He is risen from the dead

Chorus:
And I will Rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will Rise, on Eagle’s wings
Before my God fall on my knees,
And rise
I will Rise

Verse:2
There’s a day that’s drawing near
When this darkness breaks to light
And the shadows disappear
And my faith shall be my eyes.1

“I Will Rise”  - from the CD “Hello Love”
by Chris Tomlin (2008 Sparrow Records)

Hope is a major theme of both Testaments… the hope of Messiah in the Old, and the hope fulfilled, though not yet fully, in the New.  Listen to Paul in the book of Romans:

For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. (15:4)

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. (12:12)

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. (15:13)

So I’m thinking this:  we’re made of flesh and blood and spirit. But without hope perhaps we are far less human, and hence far less God-imaged than we could be. And when Christ in me, The Hope of Glory, resides and speaks to my troubled heart in times of hardship, I know I am closer to God than I could ever know.

By the way… the miracle on the football field never did happen… we turned over the ball in the dying seconds, and for that instance hope was vanquished. But it’s only the second game of a long season… here’s hoping for a deep playoff run!!! Maybe this year… I hope!