Hope

Hope is a popular subject. In the political season, we hear a lot about the topic. Every politician tries to convince you that they are the hope for a better future. In many ways, hope can be a pretty easy sell. It is easy because they do not have to offer any specifics. Nor do they have to actually deliver anything. All they have to do is convince people to feel an emotion; An emotion that most people want to feel anyway.

Politics is not the only place we hear a lot about hope. The Bible is filled with it. In both Psalm 42 and 43, we are told, "Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God".

In Romans 5, Paul states, "And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us".

Now, I have to be really honest about something here. It pains me to say this, but the naked truth is that these scriptures don't give me strength. They don't make me feel better. There is no comfort or consolation from those words. In a time of difficulty, of pain, or of trials, these verses don't provide me any solace.

I wish they did. I really, really wished they helped. As a follower of Christ, I badly want to tell you that, "the Word of God gives me strength". But, I can't lie. It doesn't always work that way.

Here's why…
The hope I read in the Bible seems to relate to the long term, the distant future. It is a reassurance that in the end, all will be okay. The Bible constantly reminds us that we have a good, gracious and loving God. A God in control who will make all things right. That is awesome, and nothing to be discounted.

However, my problem is that I don't often worry about what will happen in the long term. I am not stressed about what will happen in 10, 20 or 50 years. Nor do I get scared about death. I have faith in God and His love. I have faith that He will take care of me like the loving and omnipotent Father He is. In fact, the older I get, the more my faith and trust in God develops. Every year of my life adds experiences that allow me to see how God has sustained me. This makes it easier to be hopeful for the long term.

My problem, unfortunately, is that I have difficulties with the here and now. I worry about the problems of next week, next month and next year. While I know that eventually everything will be okay, I have trouble coping with the knowledge that trials are inevitable.
In fact, maybe even more disheartening is that the Bible gives us plenty of warning that these trials will happen. It doesn't cover up that fact at all. There is no illusion that life will be all peaches and cream.

Take a look at James 1:2-4: "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

Pure joy? Are you kidding me? I'm sorry, but I have read this scripture during times of trouble and it does not offer me any relief. Nothing. In fact, it has made me feel even more depressed. It made me depressed because it caused me to question my faith. It caused me to question how much I truly trust God. I'm I really a Christian? A follower of Christ? A disciple? If I really had a strong faith, how could I still be so stressed?

When I first sat down to write this essay, my intention was to simply vent frustration. I didn't have a solution to my stress in mind, nor was I really searching for one. I just wanted to document my dismay at the fact that sometimes I felt hopeless. But whether I was searching for it or not, I was able to find some bit of peace. I found something that made me feel better…

While I was writing, it came to me that Jesus had a similar reaction to a bad situation. Even though he knew full well that all things would be made right, he was not immune from anxiety.
Just before Jesus gets arrested (and eventually tortured and killed), he led some disciples to a garden in Gethsemane. In the book of Mark, we have he following account of what happened:
"He took Peter, James and John along with him and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. 'My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death', he said to them. 'Stay here and keep watch.' Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass him. 'Abba, Father,' he said, 'everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will." (Mark 14:33-36)

Did you pick up on that? Jesus was "deeply distressed", "overwhelmed with sorrow", and he asked the Father to spare him the pain he knew was coming. The Son of God, God himself, God in the flesh, was worried about short term problems. Even though he knew the outcome in advance, there were still trepidations about the process.

Believe it or not, that is comforting to me. It means that maybe, just maybe, I am normal. Maybe it is okay to have stress every once and a while. Being worried is just part of the human experience.

The lesson from all this is that tough times are inescapable. They are unavoidable. As a result,
stress is inevitable as well. So don't be ashamed of feeling worried. It's all part of our journey here on Earth. It's part of our growth. The key, however, is that we do not wallow in those dark places. We have to work through and move past those times. And we can do this by recognizing God is in control of the situation, and even if we don't like the circumstance, God has it handled.
Jesus understood this reality. That is why in his prayer, he went ahead and expressed his distress. He let the Father know his sorrow. But then he prayed these words in the garden: "not what I will, but what you will". Because God's will is perfect, and He is in control anyway.