Pick up a book written by some modern evangelical pastors and we will find the romanticized version of evangelism. Story after story of lost souls coming to faith through their conversations and interactions. Of which some, I’m sure are true and unarguably a treasured source of hopeful reassurance. Most of us cherish those moments of much needed inspiration. What we won’t find between, in, or on the majority of those pages is broken heartedness, frustration, and helpless concern any person of faith feels for those who are lost or strayed from the faith. Especially for, but not limited to, those we are closest to.
It’s not the sorta exciting world changing glamour that sells books ...or anything else for that matter. It’s just an emotional reality known, all too well, by those who believe and share the gospel. We just can’t nonchalantly take the “you win some, you lose some “ stance when it’s the eternity of those you know best on the line. No matter where our doctrinal beliefs fall in the theological perspective, it simply just isn’t up to us. Suddenly, this glorious knowledge of the free setting truth make is us realize we are in unshackled chains without the ability to free another soul.
We mourn for those we love who are still chained. Though Christ has empowered us through His death and resurrection, when we are close to those who are squandering grace, we can feel spiritually paralyzed. If God planted our Hope within us, then spiritual paralysis is Hope’s great fertilizer. Organic fertilizer. In other words, it feels like crap dumped on us to make us grow.
Proverbs 13:12 says
Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.
Understanding who we are and who God is, is the key to hope in this life and for the next one. Nothing of this world can destroy our hope if we don't find it here or keep it here.
Hebrews 10:23Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised God keeps His promises.
Do we know all of those wonderful commitments He has sworn to Himself on behalf for us?
To maintain hope requires a connecting focus on God's word.
Psalm 119. 114 Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word
Most of us Christians avoid disappointment and emotional suffering as if it were the plague, but the Bible teaches us to rejoice in suffering.
Romans 5:3 but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.
Suffering, is when God frustrates the attacks of the enemy, for His glory, to grow us into something more powerful and beautiful than we were before it attacked.
If we are to share the gospel, we must overcome the fear of disappointment. In short, you must have hope.
Psalm 42:11
Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.
If I were to define Hope, it would be: practicing the emotional goal setting to intentionally think differently now about circumstances, in order to keep from being blinded to the potentially positive outcome of those circumstances in the future.
To hope, you must have more than just a need for it.
You must have faith to go with it.
The well known biblical definition for faith found in Hebrews 11:1 confirms:
...faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Sometimes, when we've bared our soul, prayed our hearts out, made our concerns known, hoping is the only thing we can do. When all we can do is hope, it becomes a catalyst for testing our faith. These verses bare, not only a reminder, to not lose hope, they teach us God is the God of Hope.
Romans 15:13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.
When we were not connected to the creator, we were not connected to the source of this life and had no hope for another. But God’s grace gave us Hope. Sometimes, most times, the best thing to do for ourselves and those who doubt is Hope. Hope in God. He is a good God. He is merciful.
If you'd like someone to pray for you or someone you know who needs hope, feel free to contact me.
Psalm31:24
Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.