Dare to Hope

More Christians have been martyred this year than at any other time in modern history. The moral decay of our culture has many believers wringing their hands while others who claim to know Christ are compromising on the clear teaching of Scripture. You might say these are dark days for followers of Jesus.

The prophet Jeremiah lived during a similar time in Israel’s history. He was charged by God to prophesy judgement on his own people because they disobeyed God by conforming to the sins of those around them; their idol worship, child sacrifices and religious prostitution had polluted the land. Jeremiah spoke God’s truth in power. He condemned sin and foretold judgement. The Babylonians— invaders from what we know as modern-day Iraq—would pulverise Israel’s armies and drag the people away into captivity. For pronouncing such a message, Jeremiah was rejected by almost everyone—and especially by his own family. They plotted to kill him. He was humiliated, publicly beaten and mocked; he was shamed as he was whipped and put in stocks in the public square. Finally he was thrown in prison and flung into a deep pit, where he lay sinking and freezing and near death. Jeremiah was broken and lonely, yet he wasn’t without hope. In fact, he not only lived with a profound sense of hope, but he actually wrote a letter to the people after they were taken captive in Babylon, daring them to hope in the midst of their exile. (See Jeremiah 29:4–7.) How amazing that Jeremiah wrote this letter at all. Remember, these people had caused his pain and suffering and imprisonment. I don’t know about you, but if it were me I would have been tempted to write a letter saying, “See. I told you so. But now you’ve gotten exactly what you deserve.” But Jeremiah doesn’t do that. Instead he writes to encourage them and to offer them hope for coping with their pain and loss. I find that striking. And that is exactly how God responds to us. When we experience the consequences of our disobedience, He doesn’t gloat or say, “I told you so.” He looks to forgive and bring about our redemption.

In Oatlands, Sydney the Abdallah family offered forgiveness to the driver who killed three of their children in February. The whole world was amazed to see such good people. But it’s not merely that they were good people; they were God’s people. And those people, acting in His strength, showed the world what a good and loving God looks like. When we choose forgiveness and grace toward those who have wronged us, we, too, can show others what God is like. And we can do this because it is how God has shown Himself to us.

The second thing that strikes me about Jeremiah is this: he gave the best possible advice to a people who had experienced utter devastation. They had experienced such profound loss, that it was only natural for them to despair of life. But Jeremiah says something like, “Hey guys. You have to keep on living. Even in exile there is hope, because the God of hope promises to be with you. Learn to live for what good God can make out of it.”

All of us today are living in a kind of exile because ultimately our home is with God. Yet God still wants us to live full of hope now and to do good even in our exile because ultimately we represent Him. Our exile may feel like a real sense of loss. Eventually life delivers the blows of loss and disappointment, even to those who are obedient, as Jeremiah was. Painful disappointments in our relationships may result in loneliness and alienation. Or maybe things haven’t turned out the way we hoped in terms of our job and career. We may be struggling with bitterness over any number of unmet expectations. Some are facing declining health, even the prospect of death before we feel ready for it. COVID-19 reminds us of this daily. We must realize the temporary nature of life. The things we think will make life perfect can’t ultimately satisfy us. Even if we have little or no disappointment in our relationships, career, etc.— even the best of the most wonderful life is tainted with temporality. And the knowledge that whatever we have on this earth is fleeting has caused many people to despair. That’s because we are made for a permanence that is found only in God’s presence, a love and a joy that never fades—that is what we truly seek, even if we aren’t aware of it. And that is what only He can give. We can never hope to avoid the pain and brokenness of life this side of heaven—yet we can live hope-filled lives because God’s mercies which are new every morning. Those mercies give us every reason to open our eyes and see what God has for us right here. We can engage with people, be a light to the world around us and also experience and enjoy the blessings that God is offering us here and now. We can have a measure of that experience now and into the future. We need to believe that and declare that, and order our lives around that ultimate reality. No matter how dark the horizon, we can dare to hope because we know for a certainty, the best is yet to come.

BY DAVID BRICKNER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

October 2020