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Any
thoughts? ... Tell us what you think here |
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A
Certain Hope - Written by Chris Parker,
Sutton
‘Are you sure of what you hope
for?’
This is the question asked by a mystery
author (possibly Paul) in communications
with some hard core Christians known
as the Hebrews (11-1). So what’s
your answer? Are you sure of what you
hope for? Yes? No? Maybe?
I possibly think my answer might almost
be a definite maybe. I mean think about
it, how can you be sure of something
you hope for? Hope in itself seems to
be an uncertainty by nature. It’s
a kind of anticipation or optimism,
not a definite full blown conclusion.
I hope England will win the world cup
next time around but hope doesn’t
necessarily mean it’s gonna happen...
So why do we hope? What’s the
point if all it deals us is uncertainty
and potential disappointment? Or could
it be that we don’t really appreciate
what hope is at all? Have we allowed
our society to define, shape and limit
our perception of hope?
I’m currently on an internship
in Emergency Relief with The Salvation
Army. What does that mean? Well it’s
about engaging in a year of development,
of learning, of seeing and being. Encountering
tragedy and trauma, delivering relief
and revival to disaster situations is
all part of what I am being exposed
to and the life I am learning to live.
My journey so far has taken me to the
arid corners of East Africa where we
have been delivering hope in the shape
of water projects, food distributions,
education provision and much more. Hope
has been the undercurrent to a journey
of personal, spiritual and vocational
discovery.
These last 5 months have challenged
everything and anything I thought I
ever knew or understood about hope.
In much of eastern Africa there has
been a catastrophic drought resulting
in a lack of safe water, the disintegration
of crops and food, the increase in water
borne diseases and the depletion of
livestock. This has lead to people losing
their livelihoods, their health, their
family, and their lives. It’s
not fair and it’s not right. It
seems we live in a hopeless world…
…But we don’t! Amidst
the pain, the suffering the injustice
that stares us right in the face, there’s
hope. A hope in today, a hope in tomorrow
and a hope forever. Its hope that fuels
a woman in Kenya to walk for 3 hours
in search of water to quench the thirst
of her family, it’s hope that
then sees her gather unsafe water that
she knows may kill her child, it’s
hope that gives strength to her as she
carries the equivalent of your airport
luggage allowance on her head in order
to provide this life giving water to
those she loves.
Hope isn’t a selfish dream; it’s
not a wish list. Hope becomes your everything
amidst nothing. Hope is a building block
of faith. Faith moves mountains, faith
quenches your thirst. The people of
East Africa have taught me a great lesson
that is summed up in Psalm 25:5
‘Lead me by your truth and
teach me, for you are the God who saves
me. All day long I put my hope in you.’
Is this not a hope to aspire towards?
Could you be so sure of what you hope
for, so sure of your faith if you had
nothing? If something as simple as drinking
a glass of water became a daily fight?
If we base our hope on the definition
that society dictates to us today then
I’ve no doubt that disappointment
would loom around the corner.
But when God becomes our base camp of
hope, when we tap into the endless source
of hope that is found in our faith then
surely we have a future, surely today,
tomorrow and throughout our lives, if
we build around the hope we are offered
through our faith then we can win the
fight in our own lives and in the lives
of those who face huge injustices.
The beautiful people of east Africa
have a hope I aspire to. It’s
the same hope the hard core Hebrews
found and a hope that can only be found
in our fountain of hope- God.
Take drink from the fountain today.
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