If I were to look at our society today from a worldly perspective, there is a lot to feel hopeless about. Things like political unrest, racism, national as well as personal debt, woke-ism, breakdown of traditional family values, our education system, homelessness, violence, lawlessness, an increase in suicide and depression is a small list of things that can breed hopelessness. We get frustrated wondering if any of these things will ever change and probably have no hope of seeing all of them change. We seem so small and insignificant yet the issues seem so large.
The Problem
However, the real problem lies in where we place our hope. If our hope is in a political system or party, we will be sorely disappointed. If our hope is in our bank account, most of us are one life event from losing it all. Our hope cannot be in our public education system to train up our children. We can all see where that is going! We cannot put our hope in “programs” to help our young people deal with suicidal thoughts and depression. All our “programs” fall short while the rate of mental health issues continues to rise.
It’s interesting to note that while our society's ills continue to rise, church membership is on the decline. 2020 was the first year that church membership in the US went below 50% to an all-time low of 47%, and has continued to decline since then.
Currently, 31% of millennials have no religious affiliation. While precise numbers of church closures are elusive, a conservative estimate is that thousands of U.S. churches are closing each year. It is obvious from these statistics that many are getting disillusioned with “church” in general. This is understandable to me since “religious institutions” are not what God had in mind for church. The “church” are the “people” who love Jesus and one another as one family, reaching out with His love to a lost world that is craving hope. Sadly, much of church today has become either an institution or a business.
Our nation has taken God out of just about everything except the church. Try bringing up the name of Jesus at any government sponsored event and see what happens. I’m not saying this to discourage doing so but actually, just the opposite.
There seem to be blinders on the eyes of many people in our nation today. Why can’t they recognize that as God is being removed from our land, the ills of the nation have increased. The majority of people no longer believe in the Christian values that our nation was founded on, although each year we continue to slip deeper into lawlessness which breeds hopelessness. Why can’t people connect the dots? No doubt, principalities and powers are at work here.
The Hope
The true believers of God, his Ecclasia have an answer. We serve a God of hope. We have a promise from the living God that we can trust:
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11
Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the fear of the LORD all the day. Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off. Proverbs 23:17-18
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:23
Biblical hope is not a wishful, uncertain desire, but a confident certainty and a assurance for those who follow Christ. Biblical hope is rooted and grounded in the unchanging nature and character of God. It is found in Jesus Christ, who is our immovable Rock. It is a hope anchored not just in the promises of God but the very person of God. It is a hope we receive from God as we look to Him. It is vital to living a full and true Christian life. Hope is a sure expectation to receive that which God promised
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. Romans 8:24-25
If you have been discouraged or lost your hope, take heart. Even David, who wrote the Psalms struggled with discouragement.
Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. Psalms 42:11
For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. Psalms 62:5-6
As the Ecclasia of God we must continually direct our hope towards Jesus who is the author and finisher of our faith. He alone can bring comfort in any situation and circumstance we find ourselves in. When we choose hope over circumstances, the peace of God comes into our heart like a flood. Those who carry this hope can now, by God’s grace, deliver a message of hope to the hopeless. The world is looking for hope. We can only give to others that which already belongs to us. Receive this blessed hope and deliver it to everyone you know.
And your life will be brighter than noonday; its darkness will be like the morning. And you will feel secure, because there is hope; you will look around and take your rest in security. You will lie down, and none will make you afraid; Job 11:17-19
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