As I opened my app to “Abide”,
a daily Bible study and also an aid to sleeping, the verse for the day was
this:
“The people walking in
darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness
a light has dawned.” Isaiah 9:2
I thought, “If ever there
was a land of deep darkness it is here and it is now.” I know in the past there
have been many dark times, but to my generation (Baby Boomers), this is the
darkest time we have seen with our own eyes.
This verse was written
around 740 BC and it was a prophecy about Jesus’ birth. It goes on to say,
“For unto us a child is born,
unto us a son is given,
and the government will be upon His shoulders.
And He will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
The time of Jesus’ birth
was indeed a dark era. Ancient Rome ruled the world and they were ruthless in
their conquest. They did some good things, like bring water to cities by aqueducts,
build roads and promote sanitation. They also banned human sacrifice, which
they found abhorrent. But as we know, their rule was corrupt, cruel and without
mercy. People needed hope and many found it in the Son of God.
The Christian religion
began with a handful of Jesus’ followers, but as people heard the amazing story
of how God’s son became a human being in order to save us, thousands and then
millions believed. This message gave them hope that though our life here might
be fraught with trouble, this wasn’t the only life, there was a life ahead with
the God of the universe waiting to be with us.
As I said before, this is
the darkest time I have lived in (I’m 72). With Russia invading Ukraine, the
world is on the brink of a world war. The United States is being torn apart by
the people on the left and right. Politics is a shitshow. The hatred between
the two opposing camps could cause a split between the states or a civil war.
Instead of coming together over the plague of Covid, we became farther apart. Politicians
and regular citizens are getting death threats over disagreements about our
culture and political stance. Lies are spread throughout media platforms. Trust
in authorities has eroded because of the terrible things done in the past by
some of them.
I hear on podcasts and
read in newspapers how people are trying to cling to hope for the future, but
it is hard for them. In my opinion, Global Warming will kill this planet. I
think we have gone over the line of no return. Many people are deciding not to
have children because of the disasters they see coming. Everyone needs hope.
Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why
the unease within me?
Put
your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him,
my
Savior and my God.
Psalm 43:5
Three things will
last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13
Paul explains hope
very well in Romans 8:18-25: “…with
eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s
children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of
childbirth right up to the present time. And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy
Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to
be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day
when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including
the new bodies he has promised us. We were given this hope when we were saved.
(If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for
it. But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait
patiently and confidently.)
There is a beautiful song,
written and sung by Danny Gorkey called, “Hope in Front of Me.” Here are a few
lines:
“I've been running
through rain
That I thought would never end.
Trying to make it on faith
In a struggle against the wind.
I've seen the dark and the broken places,
But I know in my soul
No matter how bad it gets
I'll be alright.
There's hope in front of
me
There's a light, I still see it
There's a hand still holding me
Even when I don't believe it.
I
might be down, but I'm not dead
There's better days still up ahead
Even after all I've seen
There's hope in front of me, yeah
