A Hope that Doesn't Disappoint

Have you ever given Hope much thought?  I hadn’t until I watched a movie that changed my whole perspective.

 

Webster’s dictionary says hope is “to cherish a desire with anticipation.” 

 

Hope leads a woman and man to profess their love for one another and commit to a lifetime of love together, hope gives that same couple the strength to endure the nine long months of waiting before they hold their child in their arms and then it’s with hope in their hearts that they send that same child off to college and beyond. . .

 

Hope is a powerful thing.

 

But have you ever wondered what it would be like to live without hope? 

 

In the movie, Jakob the Liar, Jakob Heym (played by Robin Williams) is a Jewish man in a Polish Ghetto during the Second World War.  Daily suicides in the ghetto are a common occurrence.  There is barely any food, no contact with the outside world and no reason to HOPE that there is anyone coming to their rescue.

 

One day, Jakob is taken to the Gestapo Headquarters and hears a radio broadcast telling where the Allies are at and for the first time he has hope!  He returns to the ghetto and tells his friend what he has heard and before long the whole ghetto is buzzing with the news.  The ghetto begins to throb with life as people regain hope in their future.  Seeing the dramatic change that this simple piece of news has had on the entire community, Jakob begins to “make up” news to keep their hope alive.

 

As I watched this movie, I couldn’t help but be impacted by the power of Hope.   Hope changed all of their lives; it gave them a reason to live.   For us as followers of Jesus, our HOPE gives us a reason to LIVE as well!

 

Hebrews 6:17-19 says, “God also bound himself with an oath, so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that he would never change his mind.  So God has given both his promise and his oath.  These two things are UNCHANGEABLE because it is impossible for God to lie.  Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the HOPE that lies before us.  This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls.  It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary.

 
We can put our hope in people that will fail, in dreams that may never come true and in things that will fade away.  OR we can place our HOPE in a God who never changes.

 

Do you see it?  This Hope we have is STRONG and SURE, it does not disappoint.  God guarantees it!

 

As a follower of Jesus, I live every day with the Hope of my eternal destination!  Even though my circumstances may be difficult and my path unclear, I still have the Hope of an eternity with my Savior.

 

And yet there are people all around me living and dying with NO HOPE.

 

So why do I keep this HOPE to myself? . . .   Why do I often LIVE like I have no hope? . . .

 

We have the HOPE of an ETERNAL FUTURE with our living Savior!  Remember that my friend, when life has got you in its crosshairs and there seems to be no respite for your weary soul.  There is HOPE – not a hope that disappoints but a HOPE that is SURE!