Mid-Week Thoughts: HOPE
HOPE: noun
"Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi; you're my only hope." -- Princess Leia Organa
An urgent message from a brave leader to a mysterious man. In Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, the Rebellion is at a pivotal point. They know the Galactic Empire has a super-powered weapon that can destroy worlds. They know if they cannot sabotage the Empire's plans for this Death Star, the Rebellion will die. Princess Leia places her hope in an old man. To help change a universe. To help deliver victory to a rag-tag group of "scum." To help bring balance.
For us, it's not a long time ago...it's now. We're not in a galaxy far, far away...it's here. Our world faces a medical emergency. An invisible enemy that has infected close to a half-million people, killed over 16,000 as of Monday night, decimated economies around the globe, and appears to have ushered in a new "normal" of social distancing, eLearning, and teleworking.
The facts support that the coronavirus is very contagious. But so also are fear, despair, panic, and chaos. During a national crisis, we need hope. I recently read of a White House reporter asking President Donald Trump if he was giving false hope to Americans. It made me ponder: is there such a thing as false hope?
One example of hope, big or small, can spark a resurgence to turn the tide on bad things. Remember when the 1980 USA Olympic Hockey team defeated the Russian team? Nothing else changed in the world. But that one event gave Americans real hope. Remember when Barack Obama was campaigning for president? He often mentioned hope in his speeches and our country elected him twice.
As Christians, we have the Source of all hope. Throughout Scripture, we see God's people suffering from war, imprisonment, defeat, and yes, even plagues. But God always delivers His people. Will we go through bad times, really bad times, apocalyptic-like times? Yes. But the HOPE we have is found in God's goodness and grace to deliver us in these times.
Romans 12:12 confronts us: Are we joyful in hope? Are we patient in affliction? Are we faithful in prayer? We must have common sense when battling a pandemic, like staying at home when we're sick, washing our hands, getting plenty of rest. But let us also flex our spiritual sense. Pray, serve, worship...and then pray some more. Shutdowns of states should not shutdown our faith nor our hope.
Grace and peace to you all!
- the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best: to give up hope
- a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen:"he looked through her belongings in the hope of coming across some information"
- a particular instance of this feeling: the hope of winning
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"Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi; you're my only hope." -- Princess Leia Organa
An urgent message from a brave leader to a mysterious man. In Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, the Rebellion is at a pivotal point. They know the Galactic Empire has a super-powered weapon that can destroy worlds. They know if they cannot sabotage the Empire's plans for this Death Star, the Rebellion will die. Princess Leia places her hope in an old man. To help change a universe. To help deliver victory to a rag-tag group of "scum." To help bring balance.
For us, it's not a long time ago...it's now. We're not in a galaxy far, far away...it's here. Our world faces a medical emergency. An invisible enemy that has infected close to a half-million people, killed over 16,000 as of Monday night, decimated economies around the globe, and appears to have ushered in a new "normal" of social distancing, eLearning, and teleworking.
The facts support that the coronavirus is very contagious. But so also are fear, despair, panic, and chaos. During a national crisis, we need hope. I recently read of a White House reporter asking President Donald Trump if he was giving false hope to Americans. It made me ponder: is there such a thing as false hope?
One example of hope, big or small, can spark a resurgence to turn the tide on bad things. Remember when the 1980 USA Olympic Hockey team defeated the Russian team? Nothing else changed in the world. But that one event gave Americans real hope. Remember when Barack Obama was campaigning for president? He often mentioned hope in his speeches and our country elected him twice.
As Christians, we have the Source of all hope. Throughout Scripture, we see God's people suffering from war, imprisonment, defeat, and yes, even plagues. But God always delivers His people. Will we go through bad times, really bad times, apocalyptic-like times? Yes. But the HOPE we have is found in God's goodness and grace to deliver us in these times.
Romans 12:12 confronts us: Are we joyful in hope? Are we patient in affliction? Are we faithful in prayer? We must have common sense when battling a pandemic, like staying at home when we're sick, washing our hands, getting plenty of rest. But let us also flex our spiritual sense. Pray, serve, worship...and then pray some more. Shutdowns of states should not shutdown our faith nor our hope.
Grace and peace to you all!
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