Hope

By Laura McDowell

I love Lord of the Rings. It’s my absolute favorite movie series and the last film in the

trilogy, Return of the King, I would argue is probably the greatest cinematic masterpiece of all time. From the first time I saw Fellowship of the Ring when I was 11, I was hooked. I instantly fell in love with the rich storyline and diverse characters. The music wasn’t too shabby either. But the part of the films that I love the most is that it’s ultimately a story of hope. I watch the series at least once a year (the extended versions of course) and every year I feel like the movies become more and more relatable to what’s currently happening in our world. Every year it feels as if the darkness in our world becomes more and more visible, more and more prevalent. And sometimes it can be very discouraging. Like the characters in Lord of the Rings, sometimes it’s hard not to get discouraged and lose hope in the face of such evil opposition. And sometimes, I’m afraid, even Christians are guilty of getting discouraged and losing their hope.

I recently stumbled upon this quote by C.S Lewis: 

“For I suspect that our conception of Heaven as merely a state of mind is not unconnected with the fact that the specifically Christian virtue of Hope has in our time grown so languid. Where our fathers, peering into the future, saw gleams of gold, we see only the mist, white, featureless, cold and never moving.” 

Lewis wrote that in the late 1940’s and it was definitely a different world in a lot of ways. However, it got me to thinking…have things really changed that much since then, regarding the Christian virtue of Hope having become languid within our ranks? I wish I could say differently, but for the church in America, I don’t think so.

What does the Bible say about hope?

“Hope is like an anchor for us. It is strong and sure and keeps us safe” (Hebrews 6:19)

“Hope [the hope we have of sharing God’s glory] will never disappoint us” (Romans 5:5)

Our “new life brings us a living hope through Jesus Christ’s resurrection from death”

(1 Peter 1:3)

We are to “be happy because of the hope [we] have.” (Romans 12: 12)

Finally, hope is one of the three things that will continue in the future along with faith and love (1 Cor. 13:13) Without hope, what good is our witness? According to God’s Word, hope seems to be one of the things that is absolutely critical for the Christian witness.

C.S. Lewis referred to hope as a “specifically Christian virtue”. It reminds me of a conversation I had way back many years ago with a friend who was not a Christian. We had been going back and forth for a while, having many conversations about God and Jesus and Christianity, when I finally just asked her, “Where do you get your hope from?” I could tell the question caught her off guard as if she had never really thought about it or experienced it. Her reply astonished me. I don’t remember the exact words she used, but I do remember that when she heard the word “hope” the immediate picture that popped into her mind was a barren desert with absolutely no sign of life or water anywhere. Just as the idea of hope being something positive was a foreign concept to her, the idea that it would be something negative was foreign to me. When I think of “hope” I immediately picture the exact opposite: a lush garden or oasis, a safe place amid a vast desert of hardship and trial, something to look forward to once you get through the difficulty of your current situation. 

When I was 8 years old, I went to my first week-long, overnight summer camp. Every night after dinner they had a speaker come up and give a brief message. It was always the same speaker every night and the week I was there, the name of the speaker was Mama Graham. She looked probably the way you’re picturing her: a friendly, grandmotherly sort of woman. One night she was telling us about how there were Christians around the world who lived in countries where Christianity was illegal and how they would often be persecuted or tortured simply because they loved and professed Christ. And then she said some words I will never forget, words that struck immediate fear into my heart. She said, “I believe that Christian persecution is coming to our country and that we will see it in our lifetime.” Those are strong words for an 8-year-old girl to wrap her mind around and I remember it scared me to death. But I believe part of the reason I felt fear was because I had not yet fully understood the resurrection and the hope that we have in Jesus Christ. Because now, when I think about those words, I am no longer struck with a sense of fear, but rather with a sense of hope. Because I know that the Lord will have the final victory and that my future (and the future of my family) is in his hands and he’s the one who is ultimately in control. The words of

2 Timothy 1:7 echo in my mind:

“The Spirit God gave us does not make us afraid. His Spirit is a source of power and love and self-control.”

So therefore, “The Lord is with me, so I will not be afraid. No one on earth can do anything to harm me” (Psalms 118:6). The powers of this world may be able to take everything away from us on earth, even our own lives, but they can’t harm us because they will never be able to take away the faith we have in Christ and the hope we have in Him. He will have the final victory over Satan and we will forever be glorified with Him in heaven.

The sad thing is, I see a lot of Christians in this country who don’t seem to have much hope. It’s like they’ve lost sight of it and are too focused on the world and all its problems. They worry way too much, and the worry gives way to fear. My friends, this should not be! You know that God says in the Bible not to worry or be afraid, right? He doesn’t suggest that we not fear, He commands us. As fallible human beings, we’re going to experience times when worry or fear naturally creep into our minds, but God says to be “transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2), which means replacing those negative thoughts with positive ones, reminding yourself that God is in control, and reciting Bible verses such as Matthew 6:31-34 (go look it up). Hope should be one of the things that separates us from the rest of the world. What kind of witness do we have if we do not have hope as a part of it?

I don’t know when or if Christian persecution will come to our country during my lifetime, but I tend to think that it will come sooner than we realize. Other Christians around the world are already facing violence and atrocities against them and have been for some time. Both the hope they have in Christ and the knowledge that this world is not all there is what gets them through those dark, dark days. My friends, troubles will come to us. Troubles will come to us individually and they will come to us collectively. If we lose sight of the hope we have in Christ Jesus, we will be swallowed by the world, and we won’t make it. During times of darkness and trial, it is crucial for us to remember that we “are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 12:1) who have all run the race before us and who can attest that the Lord is not only running beside us in the race, but that He’s also there at the finish line cheering us on and welcoming us once we cross it. That should give us hope!

I’d like to end with a quote by Gandalf from Lord of the Rings. I don’t believe this quote made it into any of the movies, but it was in one of the books. He said,

“…despair is only for those who see the end beyond all doubt. We do not.”

By saying this, he was implying that despair is only justified if you know for certain that the future does not hold a favorable outcome. However, as Christians, we know what the outcome will be. Christ tells us in his Word what it will be. And it will be a good one, where all things will finally be made right, where there won’t be any more tears, or sickness, or pain, where evil will finally be defeated, and where we will dwell with Christ for all eternity. That, my friends, should give us a hope we can hold on to no matter what the future holds and no matter what trials or difficulties come our way.