“But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you. Psalm 39:7
In you, LORD my God, I put my trust. Psalm 25.1

Hope seems to be disappearing for many people in these days of increasing calamity and bloodshed. Whether we ourselves suffer terrible trials or see other people struggle in the aftermaths of horrific devastation, the human heart is severely tested to cling to any hope at all. Hurricane Harvey’s destruction of lives, homes and entire communities are graphic and horrific. The images of people’s ruined lives are impossible to ignore or forget. The hurricane is but one example. Lately the planet is like the stage setting of a tragedy, with each act more mind numbing than the last. Where is the hope for men when life goes terribly wrong? Why even hope at all?

Where is hope to be found?

In the Greek myth of Pandora, Zeus gave to Pandora a beautiful box, warning her not to open it. However, her curiosity won out and she opened the lid. Out of the box flew every human evil: sickness, jealousy, contention, anger, toils and troubles without end. The only thing which did not escape from the box was hope. The story is meant to explain human behaviors – and offers hope to diminish their poisons. However, the back story of the myth reveals that Pandora’s box was a punishment and a curse from Zeus. It was not intended as a gift. It was to get even with mortals – and to destroy them further with “false” hopes. For what kind of hope is there in capricious, demanding, controlling gods/spirits/demons ruling from Olympus? In modern language how can “the universe” fulfill any hope for families drowning in unstoppable storms and overtaken by filthy, muddy waters?

Hope can only be understood when there is assurance that what we hope for will be realized. That implies faith in Someone not something, who has the desire and power to fulfill. The universe may be physically powerful, but it shows neither mercy nor compassion to those it batters.

Christian hope is far different from Pandora’s pale leftover. It comes to us through the Biblical God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of covenant and chesed, , who offers fallen mankind solace, the beacon of hope in darkness. The God of Christian faith is not one of the fitful, capricious Olympian gods. He is the Lord of Hosts, all powerful, merciful, faithful, just and kind whose Presence dwells with men. Our God of Hope forgives, not destroys; draws us closer to Himself instead of rejecting; forgives instead of punishes. He loves us as His children and desires only our good, never evil. He is jealous for us, not against us. God, the Hope of Israel, is “our hope of glory” in Christ Jesus. Lord Jesus offered Himself for us so that we would never, ever have to lose hope again. That is the new covenant we received through Him who died to atone for our sins, sins due solely to man’s fallen natures and not his metaphorical excuses. Jesus promises and fulfills every promise of the Father. We have hope because of Jesus and through Jesus alone. Therein is truth and life no matter what disasters unleash upon us.

As the floods of Texas and Louisiana crescendo and then recede over the land, who but the Lord God can offer the desperate hope needed by this nation and the world? For God is God of the living and not the dead. Once life is gone, what need is there to hope? In heaven all our hopes are realized in the Light of the Godhead. And in hell? Dante chillingly described the entrance to hell in The Inferno. “Abandon hope all ye who enter here. “ In hell, the soul is damned eternally and eternally without hope.

I believe that God gave us hope for this present life as one of His treasures. As long as we live, we have the hope of finding goodness, mercy, justice and security, not as external abstractions but because those are the gifts of God’s divine character and manifested in Jesus. Because of Him alone, we hope not only to survive but to end extremely well. Hope is an open hand beckoning us onward into eternal life when there will be no more tears, forever and ever. Hope shall be fulfilled in glory.

The waters will rise and the earth will shake, wars will destroy and blood will be shed, but those who place all their hope in God testify of Him.

My hope is in You, Lord
All the day long, I won’t be shaken by drought or storm
A peace that passes understanding is my song
And I sing my hope is in You, Lord
Aaron Shust