I Ran Low on Hope

I need to find hope again. I know where hope gets found, but it’s easy to get run down, isn’t it? My hope tank can get pretty low when a job forces me to research what’s happening in what passes for “news” today. Sometimes you and i need to refill that tank.

Being who we are, humans regularly look for hope in the wrong place, don’t we? After all, the things of this world are finite and can be gone in an instant. Just ask that guy named Job. Here is an interesting example of hope even in the middle of an outright disaster.

Hope - We all need it, but we have to look in the right place

I recently heard a story about Hurricane Gilbert hitting the Louisiana coastline in September of 1988. At that time, it was considered the “storm of the century.” The storm hit the shoreline hard, severely disrupting the shrimping business, which I don’t need to tell you is big down there. Ever seen the movie “Forrest Gump” and the part where he worked in the shrimping business? Shrimping is a big deal down South.

But I digress. In all seriousness, many shrimp boats were destroyed, and the families who owned those boats depended on shrimping to pay the bills and feed their families. A local morning news program interviewed a shrimp boat owner about the disaster.

The reporter asked him about how the storm would impact the shrimpers. With the devastation of Hurricane Gilbert clearly visible behind him on the TV, he said, “Well, there is a good side. The storm will have stirred up the bottom of the ocean, making for better shrimping once we can get back out there.”

This man CLEARLY understood hope. Even in the middle of the wreckage, he was still able to find that glimmer of hope we all need to keep moving forward. I admire that! We all need to know how to do that even when life deals us a horrible hand.

When all is said and done, hope can be a strange thing. Think about it. Hope will give you confidence in the bleakest of times. But that hope won’t be any good unless you have your hope in someone that won’t let you down, right? Let’s talk about how badly human beings need hope in their lives.

Years ago, an S-4 submarine got rammed by a ship off the coast of Massachusetts and sank immediately. The entire crew was trapped in a prison house of death. Rescuers made every attempt to rescue the crew, but the work ultimately failed.

Here’s where hope came into the story. Near the end of the ordeal, a deep-sea diver was doing everything he could to get the crew out of the sunken submarine. Suddenly, he heard some tapping on the steel wall of the vessel. Placing his helmet near the side of the sub, he realized the taps were Morse Code.

It was repeating the same question over and over. “Is…there…any…hope?” When life gets to its hardest point, and it does for all of us, we have GOT to have hope. Hope will carry you through the darkest tunnels. But that hope has to be in something that won’t let you down. I’m sorry to say, there isn’t a single person, place, or thing that won’t let you down at least once while you’re on this Earth. But there are always a lot of things we hope for and a lot of things we wish for.

The hope I’m talking about is the hope we have as believers. The hope I’m talking about has its foundation in what Jesus did for us on the Cross, and what He will do when He takes us out of this world. When you have this kind of hope, you can face anything.

We have to look for hope in the right place

After all, Jesus walked on this Earth in human form. He was both God and Man, but He suffered just as we do. Did you ever see the movie The Passion of the Christ? That was a realistic picture of what Jesus VOLUNTARILY came to Earth to do for us. He wasn’t forced by the Father to do this. He WANTED to set us free from sin and give us HOPE in this life. That’s the Good News we need to talk about and share with others! And that hope is advancing in some of the darkest corners of the world. 1 John 5:4 says, “For everyone who has been born of God OVERCOMES the world. And this is our victory that overcomes the world – our faith.” Let me tell you a story about people living out that verse in Bangladesh.

In 1980, Bangladesh had 12 Assembly of God churches. Today, that number is more than 400. God has given those churches astounding growth in recent years. God-called men and women who have been trained are going out from the Assembly of God Bible School in Dhaka, the nation’s capital.

Sentu and his wife are two of those sent out into the country. The couple faced opposition like few other Bible students had in setting up a new church. Sentu nearly lost his life several times. He got shot in the face, stabbed nine times, his throat got slit four times – his recovery took 18 months and numerous surgeries. Despite the grave personal danger, his wife remained faithful in the ministry.

The amazing part is despite the pain and suffering, Sentu didn’t give up. He had hope. As soon as he was able, Sentu told everyone that he intended to continue serving at the same place where he was attacked. You do not make that decision unless you have hope in something greater than this life has to offer.

The sheer number of times the Bible mentions the word or concept of “hope” should give you a clue about how important it is to people and how you should be cultivating it in your own life. While the number of times hope is mentioned depends on your version of the Bible, it’s clearly a lot no matter which you choose.

ASV 146 times

ESV 161 times

KJV 133 times

NIV 175 times

NLT 159 times

You get the idea, right? Let me encourage you to find verses in the Bible that give you hope. The Book features plenty to choose from.

Let me leave you with a verse that gives me a whole bunch of hope. This was one of those A-HA moments I’d always heard about. Have you ever been in the Word when, suddenly, it’s almost as if a lightbulb went on over your head? “Oh, THAT’S what that means,” you say to yourself. That’s the Holy Spirit teaching you something you needed to know.

Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that all things work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose.” The key word there is “ALL.” Even the worst days and the hardest times WILL be used for our good. I know that’s counterintuitive, but it’s in God’s Word, so it’s all true!

Jeremiah 29:11 – “For I know the plans I have for you. Plans to prosper and not harm you. Plans to give you HOPE and a future.”