If someone were to see our new trailers and ask what it means to have hope in troubled times, what should we say? Hope is a powerful tool. A gift given to those who don’t know the future, by the One who knows all things. It drives the heart of many acclaimed stories and fuels testimonies to strike a timeless chord in all who hear. True hope is defined by having the confidence and expectation that God will fulfill His promises. This concept sounds simple enough, but like many calls of the Christian Walk, having hope is oftentimes easier said than done.
In the simpler, easier times it requires little effort. To be in a season of peace or happiness presently makes trusting in the future sound uncomplicated. Perhaps the serene life we’ve always searched for is finally here. But our God is too kind to let us become complacent. The waters must be rippled for us to grow. Thus, the challenging days will arrive.
Once they do, how can we keep hope when all around us is despairing? When there is no light peering from around the corner, waiting for you to step forward and bask in it? Or perhaps that corner is nowhere in sight. Perhaps you’ve been stumbling in the dark for quite some time now, and hope feels like a dream from another life. Hopelessness starts to seem like the default state of life you had only forgotten, and now you’ve returned to it.
Hope goes hand-in-hand with waiting, whether we like it or not. The book of Romans says it best in chapter eight; “…Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.” In this way, our waiting can be our suffering for Christ. And what an honor that is. But so often the waiting, even if done in confidence, is a painful experience. When will the effects of this family tragedy end? When will this illness leave me? When will this relationship be healed?
While we can’t make the answers appear out of thin air, we have been blessed with a library of tragedy and triumph, in the Bible. And we know that “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet.” This is the lamp to guide us out of the darkness. Lamentations 3:25-26 says,
“The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.”
In the summertime, there are often stretches of days or weeks without rain. The crops in the fields can’t grow without water, but they still work while awaiting a rain shower. While waiting for that relief from above, their roots grow deeper, and they get more solidified in their foundation. This way, they are at their strongest when they feel that first drop.
To have hope is to embrace the waiting, no matter how far from ideal it is. So, if asked what it means to have hope in troubled times, what should we say? Not that we just have our fingers crossed and we’re sitting in the dark until our circumstances change. Rather, we embrace the waiting and dig into our foundation of Jesus Christ, because waiting is a worthwhile time if we seek to wait with Him.
