Seeking Hope in God

When most people talk about hope they might cross their fingers, take a lucky mascot in hand or around their necks, while trying to ignore the problems they are facing. This approach might keep them going in tough times, but it is not Christian hope; it is merely the power of positive thinking, or false optimism with a cheery face. To an observer, there may be little difference between the two, but on the inside, they are very different. 

So often hope expressed in church circles seems like Mr Micawber’s “something will turn up”. Do you know a congregation that is forever hoping for a young family to turn up and begin the growth of the church? Or have you come across a parish council struggling financially, hoping for a large donation to turn up? Or the prayer meeting that hopes a cancer cure will turn up for their beloved friend through the power of prayer? 

I am not saying that no young family will ever come, nor that donations are never given, nor that prayer is futile. What I am saying is that if our hope is placed in “something will turn up”, whether wishful thinking, a generous donor, or even prayer, then that hope is misplaced. The current presidential theme is God, Our Source of Hope (Romans 15:13). We put our hope in God, and God alone, not in any human being or institution or activity, or even “something turning up”. 

Paul writes: “We know that suffering produces patience; patience produces character; and character produces hope” (Romans 5:3-4). The surest way to hope is therefore through suffering, which sounds crazy but is true in the experience of many. This is not to say that we should seek suffering – we get enough without seeking more! What matters is how we deal with that suffering and what we learn about ourselves through it. 

Hope comes not through bypassing or ignoring suffering, like Mr Micawber, but by honestly acknowledging it and the pain or anger it causes, and sharing that pain and anger with the God who loves us. Hope comes not when we brush our mistakes to one side, as we often do in church circles, but by admitting those mistakes, perceiving the harm they have done, seeking forgiveness where appropriate and doing all this before God. 

This is one message of Easter. On the cross Jesus did not shy away from his suffering, nor the abandonment he experienced from his friends and even God; his death was real enough but it was not the end. Christ was raised! And he was raised not just for his benefit, but for ours too; his new life is a foretaste of that new life God offers to each of us. 

Share with God your suffering, as a church or individual, discover patience as you wait, for all this will begin a transformation of character that leads to a worthwhile hope, in God, Our Source of Hope. Oh, and don’t be a Mr Micawber!