WHOLLY Hopeful

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This has been deep stuff this week, looking at this first chapter in Steve DeNeff’s book “More than Forgiveness”. The last human need that he talks about is the need for hope. And once again, the fall of humankind has, in a sense, distorted our hope.

Desperate for Hope

Paul said that lost people are “without hope and without God in the world” (Ephesians 2:12). And so hope, says DeNeff, “is the inner connection that there is still a chance of future, a purpose and a justice to life. It's more than optimism. It is the bedrock belief that our story has a plot, that all of the pain and nonsense in this life will one day converge at the feet of one who can make sense of it all.”

People are desperate for this type of hope. When people are dealt hurts in this life, often they lose hope. Like the young man who was found hanging from a rope in an old oak tree with a note next to his body that said, “This tree is about the only stable thing left in the world.” Many of us feel hopeless as we look around because we're in a world of deep hurts.

False Hope

Many people try to fight this with entertainment. They try to amuse themselves so that they don't have to think about the harsh realities of life. “The deeper we hurt, the harder we laugh” DeNeff says here. “But in holiness,” he says, “our laughter comes from joy. And our joy comes from a personality transplant.” It's not a happiness that comes from our moods.

Hope in God

But when God has cleansed us and forgiven us, our soul settles and He lives deep within us. This is a miraculous result of having God as king of our hearts. We find hope and joy that nothing can shake. DeNeff says “it's been said, that the final test of any religion is how it handles suffering. The Buddhist tries to eliminate it. The Christian Scientist denies it. The Muslim accepts it. Some religions inflict it. Only Christianity transforms it.” And so we see Paul glorying in the cross because it's in suffering that the heart is cleansed from shallowness and selfishness, and we are turned to God.

Where are you looking for your hope? In amusements? In other things? Or in the One who can purify you and live inside you and give you a living hope?

Find it in him, and whatever pain comes your way you will find God working in that for your good.