When Hope is Gone

In the last few months we have heard of two people in our community who have ended their lives.  Both in their fifties.  A woman and a man who, seemingly, had many reasons to stay alive.  They had families, businesses, wealth and what appeared to be a bright future.  At least outwardly.  It is sad and distressing to hear news like this.  Even though we did not know either of them, we grieve their decision and wonder what caused them to make such an irreversible decision.

I’ve read stories of POWs from World War II who endured horrific torture and hardships.  They survived as long as they had hope.  Their captors did all they could to rob them of their hope and were often successful.  It was then when the prisoners began to die.  It was then when life was not worth fighting for.

What is hope and why is it so powerful and life giving?  

The American Heritage Dictionary of English Language’s definition states, “The longing or desire for something, accompanied by the belief in the possibility of its occurrence.”

In the case of the hopeless POWs it is not hard to imagine that their hope was in rescue and freedom.  When they began to believe that their future would not change, they perished.

In the case of our hopeless neighbors who ended their lives, we can only guess.  What were they longing for?  What did they desire? What were they believing could happen?  What brought them to the moment when the longing, desires and beliefs were empty and hollow?

Unless they wrote a note and left it for those who grieve their decision and want the answers to those questions, no one will ever really know.

The pursuit of happiness is our right as humans in this country.  And we pursue it with vigor and determination.  We apply ourselves to changing our circumstances from our youth and well into our old age.  In youth it is by education, relationships, wealth and power that we pursue success and the ‘happiness’ those circumstances can bring.  In our old age it is by retirement funds, families, and continuing the image of success through relationships, homes and ‘good living.’  

All of these pursuits can and do bring happiness, however, the evidence of a pattern of constant change in all of these areas of life portrays the truth that ‘the longing or desire for something’ is not always ‘accompanied by the belief in the possibility of its occurrence.’  

In other words, the hope is placed in something that cannot or will not happen.  Thus, the continual pursuit and constant change in direction.  We may come to the conclusion that when this happens many times, the hope is lost and life is not valued.

The highest goal as a human is to be loved and valued.  To know that you matter.  We seek this love and value in a variety of human pursuits.  They often seem to elude us.  We earn a degree and find out we need another.  We earn money and learn it’s not enough.  We earn someone’s love and are perplexed when they find someone else to love.  There comes a moment in everyone’s life when they realize they are quite alone and who really cares.  It is a hard truth to know that every person in your life will fail you…just as you will fail them.                                

We are human.  We fail.

We must then ask the question….where do I put my hope?  What can I long for and truly know that it will occur?

The answer is simple.  

Only a Holy God never fails.

Only a hope in His plan will be fulfilled.

Only His Holy Word can bring Truth.

Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Psalms 42:5 says, “Why, my soul, are you downcast?  Why so disturbed within me?  Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.”

We must remember that God is not like us.  A Bible College professor we knew told all of his students that "you’ll never understand God, until you understand how different He is from us.  Because He inhabits the uncreated world, and we inhabit the world He created.”

We try to put Him into the human mold.  He will never fit.  He is so much more  than we can imagine, but we can know Him through His Word.  Through His Spirit.  Through His plan to reconcile us to Him through Jesus Christ and the sacrifice He accomplished, removing our sin so that we are acceptable to a Holy God.  But we cannot simply ‘know’ this (the devil knows this), but we must embrace it and submit to Him, living for Him and by Him and through Him.

I Peter 1:3 says, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!  In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

Romans 15:13 says, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Oh!  That there were more of us humans overflowing with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit!