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.
(Romans 15:13)
During worship this past weekend, Matt Hooks shared his encouragement in seeing so many within our congregation who had experienced their hope being restored. I know I am one of those people.
Dictionary.com defines hope as “the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best.” This expectation is vital to every human traversing this broken world. Throughout history, hope is the light at the end of the dark tunnels of suffering and futility that has propelled men and women forward through adversity. The Scriptures reveal the ultimate source of all true and enduring hope: Jesus (see Hebrews 6:19-20). It is no wonder then that Satan spends no small about of his scheming lacing false hope in transitory things and seeding minds wholesale with hopelessness.
Being in church-world for nearly four decades and in ministry for two, I have seen more than a few who I thought would never lose hope and abandon their faith do just that. There are often multiple contributing situations and reasons given for sliding back into faithlessness but the two most consistent offenders are unmet expectations and the loss of a loved one. Unsurprising, each of these pitfalls are addressed in the Scriptures.
Unmet Expectations
God promised Abraham that he and his wife Sarah would give birth to a son despite the fact that they were both over seventy years old and Sarah had been barren the entirety of their marriage. They wanted a child of their own more than anything else on earth and God said it would be so. However, He did not bother to reveal His timeline. They waited twenty-five years for that promise to be fulfilled. Twenty-five years is a fair chunk of time. Twenty-five years is more than enough time to challenge even guarded expectations, to doubt God, and lose hope that you even heard Him promise in the first place! The Old Testament book of Genesis records their missteps and struggles to trust the Lord during that time between God’s promise and His delivery on that promise. The New Testament letters to the Romans (4:18-21) and Hebrews (11:11-12) encourage us to believe God and endure delay as Abraham and Sarah did finding promised gratification in the outcome:
“Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed … Without weakening in his faith ... he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.”
“And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered Him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.”
Loved Ones Lost
God alone reveals what happens when our hearts stop their beating, and our diaphragms push the last breath we will breathe past our lips. He alone discloses what awaits the souls of those whose bodies are no longer capable to hold them. Even amidst this somber transition, hope shines like a ray of sunlight piercing through dark clouds whenever we must let go of those we love in this way. If they have entrusted their lives to Christ who loves them, we too may trust in the glorious reunion God has promised every member of His eternal family. If they have entrusted the Father to welcome them, we too may welcome the comfort of the Holy Spirit as He reminds us that death here in never the end. We’re encouraged in 1 Thessalonians (4:13-18) and Revelation (21:1-7) to encourage one another about the wonderful reality that is to come:
“Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. … For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. …”
“‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’ He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’ Then he said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.’”
The promise of heavenly reunion is exclusive to those who have chosen to trust Christ for the salvation of their souls. Therefore, we should renew our earnest prayers and loving efforts to share the Gospel of Jesus which alone has the power to kindle true hope and save those we love who have yet to believe (see Romans 1:16-17).
Encourage Yourself
What do we do when we’ve been waiting and waiting and you are still waiting for God’s promise? What do we do when the vacuum left by the passing of someone we love is threatening to pull us into despair? We must do what David did.
David had been anointed of the Lord as a simple shepherd boy to become the next king of Israel. After what initially looked like a meteoric rise to the top, he was maligned by the sitting king and hunted as a traitor to the kingdom that God promised he would rule. A fugitive for years, David had to hide among the enemies of Israel with a band of sympathetic men who had rallied to him. 1 Samuel 30 records one instance when David and his company were returning from raiding to the small village they had been gifted, they surprisingly discovered their families stolen away and their village burned to ashes.
So, after years of being lied about, exiled, and chased while waiting for the promise of God to be fulfilled David returns to the little bit of solace he has been able to carve out of his on-going tragedy to find only desolation. To top it off, David’s men, overcome by the anguishes of their loss blamed him and wanted to stone him to death! It was a hopeless situation if there ever was one. But David did the one thing he had done time and again to help him withstand this discouraging season of waiting and loss: he encouraged himself in the Lord.
“David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the Lord his God. Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelek, ‘Bring me the ephod.’ Abiathar brought it to him, and David inquired of the Lord …”
How did David strengthen himself in the Lord his God? He worshiped (Read any number of the psalms attributed to him to see that this was his constant practice). He prayed asking God what to do next. And the Lord told him what to do. David and his men obeyed and won back all their family members and belongings with additional treasures too. And eventually, after 15 years, David become the great king of all Israel.
We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end,
so that what you hope for may be fully realized.
(Hebrews 6:11)
