LESSONS I'M LEARNING FROM LOCKDOWN: EVERYBODY NEEDS HOPE.
It’s 8 weeks into lockdown here. The world is now into 5 months of experiencing a deadly pandemic.
What started as news of strange fatalities happening in certain countries slowly built up into frenzy confusion - self-isolation, panic buying, mask and glove obsessions, homeschooling and social distancing, was the first phase of the reaction. The fatality rates kept rising. Then the frenzy escalated into a barrage of conspiracy theories all over social media, on WhatsApp message, texts, viral videos and emails-
“Was this man-made or accidental?” “Was it truly the end for humanity?”
“What would the future hold?”
Then came closure of businesses, plans and schedules were cancelled, and financial savings and resources, and supplies began to dwindle, as fatalities increased in their hundreds per day.
Confusion morphed into frustration and finally frustration into FEAR. When you find yourself losing count of days, fighting to grapple with what’s left of your dreams, plans and goals, experiencing intermittent waves of “purposelessness”, and a fading view of a picture of the future, you are experiencing HOPELESSNESS…I know cos I’ve been there…
THE END GOAL OF FEAR IS HOPELESSNESS.
Hopelessness is defined as a feeling or state of despair; lack of hope, having no expectation of good or success.
It is a sinking feeling…
But how come? I thought hopelessness was not an emotion experienced by Christians. I got on the phone with colleagues, friends, family… I was wrong. They were all feeling this widely growing
emotion creep up. It’s taken a lockdown for us to realize that hopelessness doesn’t have a religious affiliation, favorite ethnicity or preferred economic class. The opposite of hopelessness is hope. And Hope is a universal need.
EVERYBODY NEEDS HOPE!
I define Hope as "The very last thread that holds a person’s ability to remain resilient in the face of any crisis." -
According to the dictionary, to Hope means “to cherish a desire with anticipation: to want something to happen or be true” No matter how bad things become, take away EVERYTHING (and I mean everything), if we still have hope, we can still, with time, dust ourselves back up and dream again. But take away anyone’s sense or pillar of HOPE, and you have snuffed out the light in their soul.
We have a LIVING HOPE. 1 Peter 1:3 “3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead”
What a relief it was for me then when one morning the Holy Spirit brought to my remembrance the bible verse 1 Peter 1:3. And that scripture came alive with fresh meaning to me.
In the reality and the consequences of the ongoing pandemic,
We don’t just have Hope;
We have a LIVING HOPE. He is alive and in control, and His name is JESUS!
And through the power of the Holy Spirit we can learn to let go of our fears and uncertainties, even in the dark, and TRUST Him to guide us THROUGH the tunnel and out to the other side into what we will eventually be a NEW NORMAL…whatever that will look like for each person, location and country.
And that’s what I’ve been doing up to this time. When my heart is overwhelmed, I look up and say to GOD “THANK YOU that I have you, my LIVING HOPE. Therefore I will not fear”
Today, I encourage you to seek REST in Christ our living hope. I doubt that any other option can match up to Him lol. If we look for hope in our dreams, in our ambitions, or financial status, or career or business, or even our family and loved ones, you will eventually realize that you are constantly standing on shaky ground, never truly finding the kind of rest that truly satisfies the soul. That kind of rest can only be experienced when we put our hope in GOD and in GOD alone.
GOD’s love for you (and me) is unending, unrelenting, that is what we should hold onto firmly as the dark, into the unknown. He is faithful. Always. Always. Always.
What have you learnt about HOPE in the last few weeks? Share with us in the comment boxes below, and on Facebook!