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Hope
Hope
All too often
hope is
pessimistically defined as the little boy did when he said: “Hope is wishing
for something you know ain’t gonna happen.”
Hope
Some years ago a
hydroelectric dam was to be built across a valley in New England. The people in
a small town in the valley were to be relocated because the town itself would
be submerged when the dam was finished. During the time between the decision to
build the dam and its completion
the buildings in the town
which previously
were kept up nicely
fell into disrepair. Instead of being a pretty little
town
it became an eyesore.
Why
did this happen? The answer is simple. As one resident said
“Where there is no
faith in the future
there is no work in the present.”
Hope
In his book《Man’s
Search for Meaning》
Victor Frankl
successor of Sigmund Freud at Vienna
argued that the “loss of hope and courage can have a deadly effect on man.” As
a result of his experiences in a Nazi concentration camp
Frankl contended that
when a man no longer possesses a motive for living
no future to look toward
he curls up in a corner and dies. “Any attempt to restore a man’s inner
strength in camp
” he wrote
“had first to succeed in showing him some future
goal.”
Hope
In 1965
naval aviator
James B. Stockdale became one of the first American pilots to be shot down
during the Vietnam War. As a prisoner of the Vietcong
he spent seven years as
a P.O.W.
during which he was frequently tortured in an attempt to break him
and get him to denounce the
How
could anyone survive seven years of such treatment? As he looks back on that
time
Stockdale says that it was his hope that kept him alive. Hope of one day
going home
that each day could be the day of his release. Without hope
he
knew that he would die in hopelessness
as others had done.
Such
is the power of hope that it can keep one alive when nothing else can.
False Hope
Probably nothing in the
world arouses more false hope than the first four hours of a diet.
Eternal Life
B.J. Honeycutt
a character
on the T.V. series “M.A.S.H.
” gave this reason for why he didn’t give in to
temptation in the midst of the Korean War: “I live in an insane world where
nothing makes sense. Everyone around me lives for the now
because there may
not be a tomorrow. But I have to live for tomorrow
because for me there is no
now.”
For
B.J.
his hope for the future was seeing his family again. That hope was
sufficient to define how he would behave in an extremely difficult situation.
How much more so should our future hope of the
Eternal
Life
B.J.
Honeycutt
a character on the T.V. series “M.A.S.H.
” gave this reason for why
he didn’t give in to temptation in the midst of the Korean War: “I live in an
insane world where nothing makes sense. Everyone around me lives for the now
because there may not be a tomorrow. But I have to live for tomorrow
because
for me there is no now.”
For
B.J.
his hope for the future was seeing his family again. That hope was
sufficient to define how he would behave in an extremely difficult situation.
How much more so should our future hope of the
Hope
All too often
hope is pessimistically
defined as the little boy did when he said: “Hope is wishing for something you
know ain’t gonna happen.” ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical
Preaching》
Hope
Some years ago a hydroelectric dam was
to be built across a valley in New England. The people in a small town in the
valley were to be relocated because the town itself would be submerged when the
dam was finished. During the time between the decision to build the dam and its
completion
the buildings in the town
which previously were kept up nicely
fell into disrepair. Instead of being a pretty little town
it became an
eyesore.
Why
did this happen? The answer is simple. As one resident said
“Where there is no
faith in the future
there is no work in the present.” ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations
for Biblical Preaching》
Hope
In his book《Man’s
Search for Meaning》
Victor Frankl
successor of Sigmund Freud at Vienna
argued that the “loss of hope and courage can have a deadly effect on man.” As
a result of his experiences in a Nazi concentration camp
Frankl contended that
when a man no longer possesses a motive for living
no future to look toward
he curls up in a corner and dies. “Any attempt to restore a man’s inner
strength in camp
” he wrote
“had first to succeed in showing him some future
goal.” ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical
Preaching》
Hope
In 1965
naval aviator James B.
Stockdale became one of the first American pilots to be shot down during the
Vietnam War. As a prisoner of the Vietcong
he spent seven years as a P.O.W.
during which he was frequently tortured in an attempt to break him and get him
to denounce the
How
could anyone survive seven years of such treatment? As he looks back on that
time
Stockdale says that it was his hope that kept him alive. Hope of one day
going home
that each day could be the day of his release. Without hope
he
knew that he would die in hopelessness
as others had done.
Such
is the power of hope that it can keep one alive when nothing else can. ──
Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical Preaching》
False Hope
Probably nothing in the world arouses
more false hope than the first four hours of a diet. ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations
for Biblical Preaching》
As Vice President
George
Bush represented the U.S. at the funeral of former Soviet leader Leonid
Brezhnev. Bush was deeply moved by a silent protest carried out by Brezhnev's
widow. She stood motionless by the coffin until seconds before it was closed.
Then
just as the soldiers touched the lid
Brezhnev's wife performed an act of
great courage and hope
a gesture that must surely rank as one of the most
profound acts of civil disobedience ever committed: She reached down and made
the sign of the cross on her husband's chest.
There in the citadel of
secular
atheistic power
the wife of the man who had run it all hoped that her
husband was wrong. She hoped that there was another life
and that that life
was best represented by Jesus who died on the cross
and that the same Jesus
might yet have mercy on her husband. ── Gary
Thomas
in Christianity Today
October 3
1994
p. 26.
From Parade
magazine comes the story of self-made millionaire Eugene Land
who greatly
changed the lives of a sixth-grade class in East Harlem. Mr. Lang had been
asked to speak to a class of 59 sixth-graders. What could he say to inspire
these students
most of whom would drop out of school? He wondered how he could
get these predominantly black and Puerto Rican children even to look at him.
Scrapping his notes
he decided to speak to them from his heart. "Stay in
school
" he admonished
"and I'll help pay the college tuition for
every one of you." At that moment the lives of these students changed. For
the first time they had hope. Said one student
"I had something to look
forward to
something waiting for me. It was a golden feeling." Nearly 90
percent of that class went on to graduate from high school.── Parade Magazine.
HOPE
As Alexander the Great was
setting out on his conquest of Asia
he inquired into the finances of his
followers. To ensure that they would not be troubled over the welfare of their
dependents during their absence
he distributed crown estates and revenues
among them. When he had thus disposed of nearly all the royal resources
his
friend General Perdiccas asked Alexander what he had reserved for himself.
"Hope
" answered the king.
"In that case
"
said Perdiccas
"we who share in your labors will also take part in your
hopes." He then refused the estate allotted to him
and several other of
the king's friends did the same. ── Daily
Walk
May 25
1992.
HOPE
During the Thirty Years'
War in the 17th century
German pastor Paul Gerhardt and his family were forced
to flee from their home. One night as they stayed in a small village inn
homeless and afraid
his wife broke down and cried openly in despair. To
comfort her
Gerhardt reminded her of Scripture promises about God's provision
and keeping. Then
going out to the garden to be alone
he too broke down and
wept. He felt he had come to his darkest hour.
Soon afterward
Gerhardt
felt the burden lifted and sensed anew the Lord's presence. Taking his pen
he
wrote a hymn that has brought comfort to many. "Give to the winds thy
fears; hope
and be undismayed; God hears thy sighs and counts thy tears; God
shall lift up thy head. Through waves and clouds and storms He gently clears
the way. Wait thou His time
so shall the night soon end in joyous day."
It is often in our darkest
times that God makes His presence known most clearly. He uses our sufferings
and troubles to show us that He is our only source of strength. And when we see
this truth
like Pastor Gerhardt
we receive new hope. Are you facing a great
trial? Take heart. Put yourself in God's hands. Wait for His timing. He will
give you a "song in the night."── Our
Daily Bread
May 7
1992.
HOPE
"Here it appears
either Paul or Barnabas went too far. It must have been a violent disagreement
to separate two associates who were so closely united. Indeed
the text
indicates as much.
"Such examples are
written for our consolation: for it is a great comfort to us to hear that great
saints
who have the Spirit of God
also struggle. Those who say that saints do
not sin would deprive us of this comfort.
"Samson
David
and
many other celebrated men full of the Holy Spirit fell into grievous sins. Job
and Jeremiah cursed the day of their birth; Elijah and Jonah were weary of life
and desired death.
"No one has ever
fallen so grievously that he may not rise again. Conversely
no one stands so
firmly that he may not fall. If Peter (and Paul and Barnabas) fell
I too may
fall. If they rose again
I too may rise again." ── Martin Luther.
HOPE
The school system in a
large city had a program to help children keep up with their school work during
stays in the city's hospitals. One day a teacher who was assigned to the
program received a routine call asking her to visit a particular child. She
took the child's name and room number and talked briefly with the child's
regular class teacher. "We're studying nouns and adverbs in his class
now
" the regular teacher said
"and I'd be grateful if you could
help him understand them so he doesn't fall too far behind."
The hospital program
teacher went to see the boy that afternoon. No one had mentioned to her that
the boy had been badly burned and was in great pain. Upset at the sight of the
boy
she stammered as she told him
"I've been sent by your school to help
you with nouns and adverbs." When she left she felt she hadn't
accomplished much.
But the next day
a nurse
asked her
"What did you do to that boy?" The teacher felt she must
have done something wrong and began to apologize. "No
no
" said the
nurse. "You don't know what I mean. We've been worried about that little
boy
but ever since yesterday
his whole attitude has changed. He's fighting
back
responding to treatment. It's as though he's decided to live."
Two weeks later the boy
explained that he had completely given up hope until the teacher arrived.
Everything changed when he came to a simple realization. He expressed it this
way: "They wouldn't send a teacher to work on nouns and adverbs with a
dying boy
would they?" ── Bits
& Pieces
July 1991.
HOPE
A man approached a little
league baseball game one afternoon. He asked a boy in the dugout what the score
was. The boy responded
"Eighteen to nothing--we're behind."
"Boy
" said the
spectator
"I'll bet you're discouraged."
"Why should I be
discouraged?" replied the little boy. "We haven't even gotten up to
bat yet!" ── Source Unknown.
HOPE
A man sentenced to death
obtained a reprieve by assuring the king he would teach his majesty's horse to
fly within the year--on the condition that if he didn't succeed
he would be
put to death at the end of the year. "Within a year
" the man
explained later
"the king may die
or I may die
or the horse may die.
Furthermore
in a year
who knows? Maybe the horse will learn to fly." ── Bernard M. Baruch.
HOPE
A number of years ago
researchers performed an experiment to see the effect hope has on those
undergoing hardship. Two sets of laboratory rats were placed in separate tubs
of water. The researchers left one set in the water and found that within an
hour they had all drowned. The other rats were periodically lifted out of the
water and then returned. When that happened
the second set of rats swam for
over 24 hours. Why? Not because they were given a rest
but because they suddenly
had hope!
Those animals somehow
hoped that if they could stay afloat just a little longer
someone would reach
down and rescue them. If hope holds such power for unthinking rodents
how much
greater should is effect be on our lives. ── Today
in the Word
May
1990
p. 34.
HOPE
I am not a connoisseur of
great art
but from time to time a painting or picture will really speak a
clear
strong message to me. Some time ago I saw a picture of an old burned-out
mountain shack. All that remained was the chimney...the charred debris of what
had been that family's sole possession. In front of this destroyed home stood
an old grandfather-looking man dressed only in his underclothes with a small
boy clutching a pair of patched overalls. It was evident that the child was
crying. Beneath the picture were the words which the artist felt the old man
was speaking to the boy. They were simple words
yet they presented a profound
theology and philosophy of life. Those words were
"Hush child
God ain't
dead!"
That vivid picture of that
burned-out mountain shack
that old man
the weeping child
and those words
"God ain't dead" keep returning to my mind. Instead of it being a
reminder of the despair of life
it has come to be a reminder of hope! I need
reminders that there is hope in this world. In the midst of all of life's
troubles and failures
I need mental pictures to remind me that all is not lost
as long as God is alive and in control of His world. ── James DeLoach
associate pastor of the Second
Baptist Church of Houston
quoted in When God Was Taken Captive
W.
Aldrich
Multnomah
1989
p. 24.
HOPE
One night at dinner a man
who had spent many summers in Maine
fascinated his companions by telling of
his experiences in a little town named Flagstaff. The town was to be flooded
as part of a large lake for which a dam was being built. In the months before
it was to be flooded
all improvements and repairs in the whole town were
stopped. What was the use of painting a house if it were to be covered with
water in six months? Why repair anything when the whole village was to be wiped
out? So
week by week
the whole town became more and more bedraggled
more
gone to seed
more woebegone. Then he added by way of explanation: "Where
there is no faith in the future
there is no power in the present." ── Halford E. Luccock
Unfinished Business.
HOPE
In the novel
Cat's
Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
Jr.
an important book comes to light. It is
titles "What Can a Thoughtful Man Hope for Mankind on Earth
Given the
Experience of the Past Million Years?" The chief character is anxious to
read it. But when he does
he finds that it doesn't take long. The whole book
consists of one word: "Nothing."── Source
Unknown.
HOPE
Typical inscription on a
grave in Paul's day:
I was not
I became
I am not
I care not.
── Warren
Wiersbe
Be Ready
p. 83.
HOPE
George Bernard Shaw is
perhaps most renowned as a free thinker and liberal philosopher. In his last
writings we read
"The science to which I pinned my faith is bankrupt. Its
counsels
which should have established the millennium
led
instead
directly
to the suicide of Europe. I believed them once. In their name I helped to
destroy the faith of millions of worshippers in the temples of a thousand
creeds. And now they look at me and witness the great tragedy of an atheist who
has lost his faith." ── George
Bernard Shaw.
HOPE
Hope means hoping when
things are hopeless
or it is no virtue at all...As long as matters are really
hopeful
hope is mere flattery or platitude; it is only when everything is
hopeless that hope begins to be a strength. ── G.K.
Chesterton
Signs of the Times
April 1993
p. 6.
HOPE
There are no hopeless
situations; there are only people who have grown hopeless about them. ── Clare Boothe Luce.