“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”
Jeremiah 29:11
Stories of Hope
Hope Renewed
Let me tell you a personal story of unwavering Hope that I witnessed at home from 1966 to 1968. You may have experienced one like it. At that time, my brother, John, was deployed to Vietnam as a Marine
officer flying dangerous helicopter missions over Vietnam. My family was overcome with worry for his safety and healthy return. My father and mother prayed daily for him, as did I. We were overwhelmed
with the worry that he may not come home. He was newly married at the time to his high school sweetheart, but he was still Dad’s and Mom’s son and my brother. We dearly loved and greatly missed
him. We sent John audio tapes of our love for him. He sent us audios, as well. Hearing his voice gave us temporary contentment and peace. I want to believe that hearing our taped voices, along with his love for his new wife, gave John the willful determination and hope to survive every flight into enemy territory. On both ends, we all kept Hope alive for his safe return.
My parents also demonstrated their willful Hope by flying our regal American flag every day, through every night and every storm, over our home during John’s deployment. It became wind blown and tattered. It became faded, beaten, and battered. But, Dad, even though he was a career Air Force officer who knew better, never took it down while John remained in combat. He never gave up Hope! In
relentless Hope, he pledged that he would not lower it until John came safely home! I have to confess that it was extremely difficult for me to watch my parents suffer as they patiently waited with Hope.
They each seemed to appear 10 years older as the days dragged on. Quite frankly, they began to appear tattered along with our flag.
With all its battle wounds through weathering at its Post, Old Glory in torn red, white, and blue finally came down. John had returned safely home. Although, I believe that he was as emotionally torn up by warfare as our flag was with Hope. Dad held a flag burning ceremony in our living room’s fireplace to celebrate John’s return and the return of new Hope. The burning represented that the attacks upon our hopes and dreams for our family, fully apparent in our battered American Flag, were defeated through unrelenting Hope! New Hope arrived! Now, a new, fresh, brightly colorful Old Glory hung at our residential Post. Hope for our future of restored dreams appeared! Hope survived and thrived at Old Glory’s Post!
Many Stories
This, of course, is just one story of Hope — Hope fulfilled, Hope restored! I believe that every human is born with Hope. I believe that every person has a story of Hope. It’s in the fiber of our being.
It’s part of God’s beautiful, creative, and restorative plan to motivate us to pursue our sought dreams. God even holds a plan for good within the gloom of desperation. In Romans 8:28, God’s Word tells us, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”
Hope surely has as many forms and stories as there are human interests on this planet! But, do all our hopes survive disaster and daily torment in the complexity that comes with collective living in this world? The world is a troubled place and trouble is likely to eventually find its way to our space. We just need to find God, or find God again as the case may be, to recover and gain renewed strength. We need belief in the Almighty God to revive us!
“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.” Romans 15:13.
Hope Crushed
I can share one other personal story that shows that some hopes and dreams are crushed by worldly troubles. That crushed Hope with lost dreams (or so they seem lost at the time) takes the very breath from your lungs, shakes your faith, and makes the world as you know it turn upside down and stop turning! Crushed Hope, with its immediately lost dreams, demonstrates that not all prayers are
answered in the way we like and understand. I can tell you this tragic story in perfect detail of every painful moment as it replays in my mind every day. But, I won’t! It’s too agonizing and extremely
difficult to relive this memory in print. Just trust me when I say that this story of relentless Hope filled with passionate, fervent prayer didn’t end as I HOPED!
The result of crushed Hope with crushed dreams took its toll on my faith in God. Doubt of anything good hung over me like an ominous, black storm cloud. Much anguishing time passed before my belief in an Almighty God reappeared, but only as a newly planted seed that needed much nourishment and daily care. Prayer was THE daily answer to regaining my unwavering faith in God with His Hope for and in me once again. Constant prayer was the fertilizer that grew Hope’s beautiful blossom once more. Gloom turned to bloom! And, I’m pleased to say that, by the Grace of God, my Hope and Faith stand firmly renewed! I am, however, strongly aware and do realize that not all people experience restoration and renewal of Hope after disastrous outcomes. My great Hope is that those who don’t will turn to God for strength and direction. That they will once again, or for the first time, humble themselves in prayer to seek answers. God and God alone can provide such help! Romans 8:28 Supra.
Are We Rooted in Hope for Every Person?
The world is a strange and wayward place. Some of us face unexpected disasters or pure evil, but oddly survive. Some of us are faced with or trapped in daily experiences that erode our self images,
test our feelings of security, and appear to destroy the fiber of our lives, but we hope for relief and help. Some of us have nothing to little and hope for more. Some have enough and hope that enough lasts forever. Even some have more than enough to the point of excess and boldly hope it doesn’t diminish or disappear. Hope is broad, for sure. Probably, universal. Is it eternal, too? Do we all carry the same kind of Hope? What do we do when our hopes for relief, help, more, enough, and plenty appear to fail us? When all our hopes appear to turn to disappointment or even disastrous gloom? From where does our Hope come, then? Is there a universal HOPE that applies to all people at all times and in all places? In every imaginable or unimaginable situation and place? Is Hope alive eternally? If we have Hope, how do we keep it through all circumstances? How do we show it? Can we all be absolutely certain that what we hope for will happen or appear in ways other than humanly expected? Will there “hopefully” be a positive result to the daily attacks on our well-being? If so, will we recognize it when we see it?
Friends, the answer to all of the above is yes, yes, and yes! God Almighty, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit is THE ANSWER! We are all rooted in the One God of heaven and earth — the Three in One:
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; the Name above all Names and Power above all Powers. Turn to Him and seek refreshment with its newness of Hope through faith.
Biblical Hope
The Bible says that Hope is derived from our faith in God. That Hope is the confident expectation that God will do as He promises. That He will give us confidence in the anticipation that He will bring us newness of life as we faithfully believe and trust in Him. God tells us that He is the God of powerful hope that fills us by His Holy Spirit and assures us transcendence into restored goodness, joy, peace, and a future. If your story of Hope is one of Hope Renewed or Hope Crushed, the answer to daily peace is the same — ask with confidence through prayer that “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.” Romans 15.
Peace be with you!
