Finding Hope when You Feel Hopeless

 

[Jesus said] “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” (Luke 21:25-28 ESV).

 

I’ve been told that I have an impossible attitude of “glass half-full.” I can assure you that may seem to be true at times; however, if you knew me as well as Mary does, you would say that I am also a grumpy old man at times. The point is that all of us find ourselves in circumstances that seem hopeless. During those times it is incredibly difficult to feel hopeful. Yet we find ourselves in this first week preceding the beginning of Advent and thinking about the first candle… Hope. It may be that you are asking yourself how that is even remotely possible?

 

Some time ago the New York Times carried the story of a miner who had been trapped for 16 hours deep under the mountains of Colorado. Tons of rock blocked his escape. Water was slowly filling the mine. To keep from going mad, the miner said he began envisioning his rescue. Believing that his rescuers surely were working furiously to reach him, he imagined them driving a pipe into his dark chamber to bring in fresh air, and he imagined himself tapping a message on it to let them know he was alive. He imagined them breaking through and walking him out, and he saw himself embracing his wife and child, going home, calling up friends, and eating and dancing to celebrate his rescue. The miner kept his head by envisioning his homecoming.

 

The season of Advent calls us to live with the end in mind, to envision the day when the Son of Man will come with power and glory. Without this end firmly in mind, says Jesus, our "hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life." No doubt, some of the people we know have already resigned themselves to life in the pit. They expect no rescue. But to them we can say, "Come with us to Bethlehem, listen to the good news of Jesus, and believe that your rescuer is in fact on the way, that “your redemption is drawing near.'"

 

When you seem at the end of your ability to overcome, please envision the One who has already overcome on your behalf. We win because He has won. That’s the end we will have one day!