There’s a power in hope that goes beyond explanation. It lifts us out of the rubble of our failures, our pain, and our fear to rise above what at one point seemed insurmountable.
Imagine that you are in the jungle, lost and alone. You paused to lace your boot, and when you looked up, no one was near. You took a chance and went to the right; now you’re wondering if the others went to the left.
Whatever, you are alone. And you have been alone for, well, you don’t know how long it has been. Your watch was attached to your pack, and your pack is on the shoulder of the nice guy from New Jersey who volunteered to hold it while you tied your boots. You didn’t intend for him to walk off with it. But he did. And here you are, stuck in the middle of nowhere.
You have a problem. First, you were not made for this place. You are out of your element. What’s worse, you aren’t equipped. You have no machete. No knife. No matches. No flares. No food. You aren’t equipped, but now you are trapped—and you haven’t a clue how to get out.
Before moving on, let’s pause and ask how you would feel. Given such circumstances, what emotions would surface? With what thoughts would you wrestle? Fear? Anxiety? Anger?
But most of all, what about hopelessness? No idea where to turn. No hunch what to do. Can you freeze frame that emotion for a moment? Can you sense, for just a second, how it feels to be out of your element? Out of solutions? Out of ideas and energy? Can you imagine, just for a moment, how it feels to be out of hope?
If you can, you can relate to many people in this world. For many people, life is—well, a jungle. Not a jungle of trees and beasts. But jungles of broken hearts, hospital walls, and divorce courts.
We’ve imagined the emotions of being lost; now you think you can do the same with being rescued? What would it take to restore hope?
The answers are abundant, three come quickly to mind.
First would be a person. Not just any person. People don’t need someone equally confused. They need someone who knows the way out.
And from that person they need some vision. They need someone to lift their spirits. They need someone to look them in the face and say, “This isn’t the end. Don’t give up.”
And, perhaps most important, they need direction. Someone to take them from this place to the right place, then you have someone who can restore their hope.
REFLECTION
Describe a time when you felt hopeless. What made you feel that way?
What in your life right now threatens your hope? How will you deal with it?
Why does it take a competent guide to restore hope?
Do you have such a guide? Do you think you can be a guide? Explain
“Where There Is HOPE, There Is Life”
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