Hope Against All Hope
Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping —believing that he would become the father of many nations.’ ‘“Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!” Then He [Jesus] got up and rebuked the wind and waves, and suddenly there was a great calm.’ (Rom 4:18, Matt 8:26)
You are warmly welcome! The month is ending, and the next is an eventful one with universities opening to students. We thank God for the ending season and look with hope to the next. Our monthly overnight this Friday will both be a celebration of what God has done, and a time of prayer dedicating the next season to God, bringing to Him all our needs, including those that need miraculous intervention.
When Captain Manish Ratna Shakya survived the recent fatal Kathmandu plane crash that killed all the others on board – eighteen of them - Nepal police spokesperson Dan Bahadur Karki said, “It was a miracle.” Indeed, miracles still happen today. We believers look to God for his divine intervention in our lives, even in miraculous ways; while we exercise responsible stewardship, we also keep our hope alive even beyond what we can humanly explain. We have hope against all hope; and such was the attitude of Abraham, and later the waterborne disciples that called on Jesus when they were engulfed in a fierce storm.
Abraham’s predicament is not strange. He was the wealthy man, rich in heart, respected by his generation, led by God’s spirit, but without a child! Do you sometimes wonder if God really spoke to you or led you this way – when things don’t seem to be going well? Maybe Abraham wondered if it was really God who had promised him the blessing of numerous descendants; but the record shows us that Abraham maintained hope ‘even when there was no reason for hope’. His story has never died but encouragingly lives on four thousand years later; after all even God himself credited him for the faith. In the latter reading, Jesus rebuked the disciples for having little faith. They panicked and gave up hope and knew they were going to drown because of the turbulence on the lake to the unusual violent storm. But thank God their ‘last card’ after all failed was calling upon Jesus; he was in the boat, and he rebuked both the disciples and the storm, and everything became calm.
Today’s encouragement for each one of us is to remain hopeful and keep the faith in all circumstances – to hope against all hope. In one research, 67% of atheists and 35% of agnostics believe “the findings of science make the existence of God less probable” – this is the storm that has brought their faith down! Are you believing for a spouse, or a child, or are you caught up in a financial storm that is tearing to life boat apart? Like Abraham, keep the hope alive; like the disciples, call upon Jesus and never give up. God bless you all.