2020!!!!!!!!! seriously 6 months in the new decade definitely feels like 10+ years. A lot has happened ; global pandemic that made the whole world stop and just when we are trying to see how life will resume after lock down, anti- racism protests are happening as an outcry for justice for black lives especially in America. As an African woman in the diaspora, racism is such a painful and tiring situation and most especially right on the heels of a pandemic. It is a lot. I have had to educate myself on racism to gain understanding. It is emotionally and mentally exhausting and the temptation to pretend its non existence is real. Personally, the most disturbing reality is in 2020 racism is very much alive and ‘protected’. This has left me feeling defeated and almost hopeless as to whether there shall ever be a time when the effects of slave trade will be over.
Living defeated and hopeless works against living by faith. As Christians we are called to live by faith. Romans 1:17- For in the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ”The just shall live by faith.” Salvation is a journey of faith, and HOPE is the very essence of faith in God. Our faith in God shows the reality of what we HOPE for; the evidence of things we cannot see. (Hebrews 11:1 NLT)
Hope and faith cannot be separated. If Faith is the car, then HOPE is the fuel. Hope keeps faith moving. Defeat is the enemy of HOPE and your faith journey. You can’t cuddle defeat and disappointment. Hope is what will empower you to rise out of them.
ANNA VOSKAMP- Hope, it is exquisitely fragile and it is an exceptional force and it is essential to faith and you can’t afford to lose it. Lose your fears but never your hope.
HOPE- A feeling of expectation and desire for a particular thing to happen. Hope is a feeling of trust / Trust in, wait for, look for or desire something or someone. An expectation/ want for something to happen /expectation of something in the future.
Two words stand out for me when looking up what HOPE is about: Expectation and TRUST.
I have wondered, how to rise out of defeat and disappointment because they are the food for pain to thrive. It seems so much easier to feed pain than begin the process of healing from it. Anger colludes with pain whispering that the cause of it all is the very source of the remedy; HOPE. Healing begins when we allow God to evacuate disappointment and defeat. Don’t wait for the pain to subside before turning to the source of all HOPE. There is no other way my friend but to go to the source. The Apostle Paul in most of His letters to the different churches always prayed asking God to give His people HOPE, to fill them with revelation of the HOPE they had access to in Christ Jesus.
I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in Him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13)
This letter is from Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, appointed by the command of God our Savior and Christ Jesus, who gives us hope. (1 Timothy 1:1)
We can hope for a better world. We can hope for the end of injustice, for systematic injustices. We can hope for the beauty in all that has happened in 2020 to make us better human beings with a new profound understanding that God is still in control of the world. We can HOPE because HOPE has a name ; His name is JESUS Christ. He is reconciling everything in this world to Himself. We can Hope because a day is coming when His Lordship and Authority will rule heaven and earth to the glory of our heavenly Father.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, let Hope Arise in your children. Let our faith be ignited anew, Let new life spring forth in us. The very life of our Lord Jesus Christ. From the ashes of defeat, oh God , let Hope arise anew. In Jesus Name i pray , AMEN.