THE HOPE THING
By Rev. David Hind
David is now the minister of Trinity Church Leicester and his articles have been greatly appreciated.
During the Korean War many American prisoners of war died of a condition recently described as, ‘extreme hopelessness”. The soldiers were given adequate food, water and shelter. They weren’t tortured or physically abused and they weren’t hemmed in with barbed wire. However, they were constantly fed bad news and starved of encouragement, good news and hope. It was not uncommon for a soldier to wander into his hut, go into the corner alone, sit down, pull a blanket over his head and be dead in two days. When the survivors were released, very few of them wanted to ring home and upon returning home, they maintained no friendships or relationships with one another. They had lost all hope.
If we lose hope it is easy to become desperate. The tragic root of so many suicides is the loss of hope and the feeling that ther~ is no escape from the present, seemingly bleak, circumstance. Suicide is never the answer and it leaves others with the burden of unanswered questions and an inability to bring closure. There always another way. If you are reading this and are feeling suicide with nowhere to turn, then contact a local church and you will fi someone who can help you.
Hope is vital in life. Hope is to believe for something with the expectation of its fulfillment. I love Psalm 71:14 which says, ‘But as for me, I will always have hope’. A Christian always has hope, so . . . .
Hope in God’s commitment to you
Never underestimate the passion God feels for you. · You have the hope of salvation. · You have the hope of God’s love - you are loved and will always be loved by Him. · You have the hope of eternal life. Come Ten Boom wrote, when her sister died in a concentration camp, And so I left behind the last physical tie. Now what tied me to Betsie was the hope of heaven.”
Hope in God’s Word
The Bible has been banned, burned, ridiculed, and criticized, and yet it prospers. Nicky Gumbel puts it like this: ‘The Bible is uniquely popular, uniquely powerful, and uniquely precious … it is a manual for life and a love letter from God.”1 God’s Word is the truth. My sister Janice was reading the Bible and came to the account of the thief on the cross. She read the words, “Today you will be with me in paradise” and had a revelation of God’s desire for her to know Him. It was a turning point in her life.
Hope in God’s promise
He will never leave you or forsake you. He has gone ahead to prepare a place for you. He will be with you to the end of the age. If you call on Him, He will answer you and show you great and unsearchable things. He has a plan for your life and will protect you. He is a constant companion, the lover of your soul and a light for your path. He is close to you and His promise to you of love, guidance, provision, commitment and hope, will never fail.
Hope in God’s forgiveness
In his book, In the Presence of God, Francis Frangipane recalls the following story: The prophet turned to the minister’s wife and said, “There was a very serious sin in your past.” The woman with her worst fear seemingly coming upon her, turned pale and closed her eyes. The prophet continued, “And I asked the Lord, ‘what was this sin that she committed?’ And the Lord answered, ‘I do not remember’.”2 God’s forgiveness is never deserved or earned. But it is His promise if we repent.
Hope in God’s control
Two men were in a museum and they were looking at a painting of a chess game. In the painting, one character looks like the devil and the other looks like an ordinary man who is down to his last chess piece the king. The title of the painting is “Checkmate”. One of the men looking at the painting is an international chess champion and something about the painting intrigues him. He becomes engrossed and transfixed by what he sees. All of a sudden he looks at his friend and says, “We must find the person who painted the picture and tell him that he must change the picture or change the title. I’ve studied the board and I realise this, that it is not checkmate, because the king still has one more move.
Whatever we face there is hope, for the King always has one more move. God is in control.
Notes1. Nicky Gumbel, Questions of Lift, Kingsway Publications, 2001. 2. Francis Frangipane, In the Presence of God, New Wine Press, 1994.
