Hope Divine

Last December 31st, I was riding around on the fire apparatus, chasing down medical calls, dumpster fires caused by illegal fireworks, and whatever other emergency situation the local sheriff called us out for. There was a feeling of excitement and anticipation. Our crew seemed extra joyful, and in between calls, we chattered happily about our plans for the new year. 2020…not only was a fresh new year, but it was a brand new, shiny decade filled with hopes, dreams, and big plans. Surely, all of the ills from the past ten years were going to go down in the pages of our personal history books with plenty of lessons learned. There was something about being in the cusp of an old decade and a new decade that made many of us on our crew feel weary, but also energized. It was like the beckoning of this new year was the start of a new chapter in our lives with a squeaky clean slate ready to be filled with wonderful plans. There was hope for something new.

Now, here we sit in the last days of 2020, and it feels like we are all strewn about on the ‘battlefield’ of 2020. We are dazed, wounded, worn out, and exhausted to our very core. Looking through the dust and haze of the last twelve months, we can barely make out the remains of the hopes and dreams that we held on to so tightly. Many of us can also make out the faces of loved ones who were also lost on that battlefield. So…much…loss. Not one of us made it through this year unscathed by the tight grip of sorrow. We all lost something. Maybe you lost an experience, a vacation, a celebration, a new job, an opportunity, or a loved one. We ALL lost something, and the hurt from that runs deep. Where is that hope we had on January 1st?

Author and pastor Henri Nouwen said this about loss, “Every time there are losses, there are choices to be made. You choose to live your losses as passages to anger, blame, hatred, depression, and resentment, or you choose to let these losses be passages to something new, something wider, and deeper.” The tremendous amount of suffering that we have endured in 2020 makes it feel as if our hope has slowly vaporized with each passing day. It can be difficult not to become bitter or angry when we no longer feel as if we have hope or joy on our side. But what does it mean to actually have hope? The Oxford Languages dictionary has two definitions for hope. The first definition of hope states that it is a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen. When we hold high expectations on things, or events, or people, or outcomes, those expectations can come crashing down when life throws a curveball or hurls the year 2020 at them. The second definition states that hope means to have a feeling of trust. Over and over again, passages in the Bible call for us to have hope in the Lord. What if the hope that we are called to have is not in expectations of earthly desires, but that it means we put our complete and utter trust in Him? What if our expectations were laid down at the feet of Jesus, knowing that we can trust Him with the outcome, no matter how difficult the result maybe? What if we keep our focus on the future that we have in His promises instead of looking back at all of the devastation?

There are many passages in the Bible that beckon us to find rest for our weary souls by having hope in the Lord. In a year such as 2020, the sweet promise of 1 Peter 5:10 is something we can look to, “And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.” The New Century Version refreshingly states this verse, “And after you suffer for a short time, God, who gives all grace, will make everything right. He will make you strong and support you, and keep you from falling. He called you to share in his glory in Christ, a glory that will continue forever.”

Hope calls for us to have a confident expectation and trust that God will redeem our hurts and suffering and that He will make us strong again. It’s a deep trust that He will be there to support us through these challenging times and will make room for us to stop and rest under the wings of His protection. Our hope is in the Divine. You may be battered and worn, but take a moment to catch your breath, and then look onward and upward with the true hope that we have in the Lord, trusting that He will renew your strength. He will give you the power, and the courage, and the endurance to move forward boldly into 2021. Cling tightly to the promises of Isaiah 40:31, “but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” He promises you that He will renew your strength so that you can carry on in the work of loving, living, and leading. Consider 2020 to be a passage to something new, something wider, and deeper. I will leave you with one more quote from Henri Nouwen, “While optimism makes us live as if someday soon things will go better for us, hope frees us from the need to predict the future and allows us to live in the present, with the deep trust that God will never leave us alone but will fulfill the deepest desires of our heart… Joy in this perspective is the fruit of hope.” And, then I will pray this blessing over each and every one of you, “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