Where is the hope?

"But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded."
~ Genesis 8:1

This morning as I was waking up and thinking about my day, I was caught off guard by a question that was asked of me this last week.  You know how conversations can sometimes linger, and then reappear?  I don't know if it is a sign of old age, or just a slow response.

Someone asked me last week, "Where am I supposed to find hope?"  The person shared this after having gone through two years of treatment for cancer and was now on hospice.

"For two years I hoped for a miracle.  I prayed nearly every day and had all kinds of people praying for me," he shared.

"What should I hope for now that I know that there will be no miracle.  That I'm going to die.  That my hope for getting better is gone?"

I have learned over the years that I don't need to defend God when answers don't seem to come.  While I will always believe that God remains faithful to each of us, the idea of hope is something that is filtered by faith, and encouraged by God's love.

I sometimes wonder what Noah must have been thinking after the rains had stopped and the sun returned, but yet, they remained afloat.   The restlessness of both humanity and the beasts that remained on an unknown course in the ark must have been filled with many hopeless moments.

What were the expectations and what was life going to look like?

If we are truthful, I believe that we all have encountered moments at some point in our life when we have looked into the sky and wondered, "What shall I hope for?"

A church is shattered by gunfire.  Communities across our country are being rocked by an opioid crisis.  White supremacists march in our streets.  A war with words causes each of us to rethink nuclear weapons.

Of course we are all finding moments when we are wondering, "Where is the hope?"

It's not confined to someone who is facing the final weeks of life after a long struggle to fight an illness.  It's what each of us are looking for with each new day.

While the writer of Corinthians will say that among the things we seek are faith, hope and love, with love being the most important.  Our need for faith and hope are part of what we need.  

Where is the hope?  Our hope will always remain in God.  Whether it is our last day, or darkest day.  While the outcome we seek may not always be the results we receive, the love of God transcends all, and remains constant.

Stay in God's grip!

G. Todd Williams (c) 2017