Prisoners of Hope

“Be strongly encouraged to seize the hope which is placed before us. This confidence is like a sure, strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls." 

Hebrew 6:18-19

In 2015, Pope Francis visited the Philippines and we watched as a poor little girl posed a question to him, a question with no answer. All who watched were suddenly overwhelmed with sadness for the many little girls like her who live with helplessness, in fear and little hope, not only here in the Philippines but around the world. She asked, "Why do children suffer?" She couldn't even continue her prepared sharing because she broke down in tears.

Really, only God knows the answer to that question. But when she was interviewed on TV a few days after, gone were the tears, and in its place, a big smile. She and the other children with her talked of HOPE. Nothing changed much in her life, but she was hopeful, happy, looking forward to the future, even giving encouragement to other children like herself. 

Living without hope is only half living. We live in a broken world, bodies that need healing, relationships that need mending, economies that need rejuvenation, values that need re-alignment...When we put our hope in the wrong things like wealth, power, ourselves, or our leaders, that is what happens. Brokenness. We have to put our hope in someone who is the same yesterday, today and forever. Someone who is trustworthy.

We may be in the dark, not knowing what lies before us, but God knows. "I know the plans I have for you, plans for your welfare and peace, and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." (Jeremiah 29:11) We need to become "prisoners of hope" (Zech. 9:12)