THE INFINITE HOPE BEYOND DESPAIR

Times have somehow been quite hard and trying for many if not all and things seem to be getting out of hand each and every passing day. They say, “desperate times calls for desperate measures”, yet nothing seems to be corresponding. In just a nutshell things had to shift and what was considered normal, now became abnormal and uncouth. Who on earth ever thought that one day shaking of hands would just be a great abnormality and uncalled for? Change is quite inevitable but when it floods with no warning nor sign it becomes catastrophic.

When the pandemic hit at first, everyone was devastated and somehow we all went into a paranoid mode. The nations were shaken and the so called super power were equally in a bad state as those other third world countries. The latter often sought aid and financial support from the other nations but this pandemic had a toll on everyone. The Covid 19 pandemic knew no bounds; whether rich or poor, whether an adult or an infant but it struck with no mercy at all. The countries were in a deep state of shock and things were turning out to be so chaotic.

The measures in place were quite extreme but no one grumbled because it was all for the betterment of every human. Schools had to be shut, worship places had to be foregone, large gatherings were banned, and this was the new norm we were supposed to embrace. The government and the stakeholders gave in their best to ensure things got better but the situation at hand was quite cataclysmic. The aftermath so overwhelming and traumatic since many lives were claimed and many are still at stake and the situation is so unruly.

When things alleviated a bit we all seemed to have forgotten that the enemy was still at hand and many people became oblivious and returned back to the old ways. This was not a good measure at all and the second wave struck and it became extremely awful. 

We all look for answers and the most perturbing query is “why”. Why this pandemic yet we have a loving father who cares and looks out for his children. Why would God allow us to undergo such great suffering yet he is omnipotent and mighty. Such quizzes keep bombarding our minds and beat our logics as we all are searching for answers from time to time. Despair and hopelessness still emerges in life and our own hearts deceive us that we forget the greater tale beyond.

Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, so your faith and hope are in God.  1^st Peter 1:21

If Jesus conquered the grave, who are we to refute this claim and question his authority as though a people who have no hope at all? We are created in way that we always yearn and hope for something great in our lives. This hope is an inherent part of every human being. Thus the great hope for a better tomorrow, we all look forward to great day, to a great future, to a great husband or wife or rather a happy marriage, to a great weather and so on. All this is a great pointer that we are beings created to hope and the greater joy as believers is that we have a greater ultimatum, hope that is in Christ Jesus.

There was a research carried out by the School of Behavioural Sciences, Academic College of Tel Aviv- Yaffo, and the specimen used were two rats put in two different jars; A and B, then each jar filled with water to the brim. The first jar was placed in a dark room with no single ray of light whereas the second jar was placed in a dark room but with a small ray of light over the corrugated iron sheet. It was concluded that the rat in jar A died after a short period of time while that in B took quite a longer time after struggling for life while  gazing at where the light was coming from. The rat in jar B kept fighting because there was a source of hope which was the ray of light hence every reason to keep fighting. The one in jar A died instantly because there was no reason to fight at all after every struggle seemed futile.

We all, like the rat in jar B, have a reason to keep fighting and hoping because we have an Abba father who has many ropes, ladders and tunnels out of pits than we can comprehend. Every night as we culminate the day we have no assurance of tomorrow but yet we put up plans for the next day, that’s what we term as hope.

Recently I interacted with an industrious young mother in a village and she was jubilant as she narrated how God had come through for her. Rose was a casual laborer in one of the retail shops in town while her husband was a security personnel in some firm. Due to the pandemic, Rose and her husband lost their jobs, and she had to make ends meet for her family. Life wasn’t easy at all and getting a meal proved difficult each passing day. She was able to cite the number of times they were able to sleep on empty stomachs but they remained hopeful that things would get better.

Rose kept trusting God to help her find a stable source of income to support her own family. Little did she know that her misery had just started, a month later they were evicted from their home since they could not afford to pay the rent. Rendered homeless and devastated, she set out for the streets and they had no choice but to settle there. Amidst sobs, she narrated her predicament and I could hardly fight back my tears gushing down my face. “My children would always ask, ‘Mum, where is this God you claim sees our suffering’”, she told me. Every time she kept telling them that her God never tarries nor slumbers. What a great faith to behold.

One day as she looked for an odd job to sustain them for that day she met a lady who offered to always have her do her laundry. Rose did her job with great diligence and her employer was greatly impressed. Her employer insisted on dropping her home. One day and to her shock she found out about Rose’s predicament, and she was moved with great compassion. The lady was compelled to move Rose to a better house and paid her rent for a full year and also increased her salary. Rose could not hold herself as she praised God for the great doings and also how her whole household now believed in Jesus Christ.

Your story may be far from what Rose experienced, but always remember; God never fails. He knows and is so much aware of what you are battling with, and whichever struggle you have, he knows why it had to be you. Never waver in faith but keep trusting in him and I hope you cultivate the faith as Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego did. They vowed not to bow down to any idol and they knew that God would deliver them but even if he wasn’t going to, they had purposed not to defile themselves in any way. This is the faith that each of us are called to and thus the faith we ought to profess daily.

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13

The world offers us a hope that is short lived and always full of loopholes, whereas God offers us a grand hope that its surety is non comprehensible and is eternal. So despite all the frustrations and chains of trials that come our way, this pandemic inclusive, we are never going to back down but our hope will forever be secured in whom we trust. Hope is a gift that we ought not forfeit at all but guard it with uttermost jealousy, so as we maneuver through life with all its complexities and uncertainities, we do so with courage that we will triumph at the end of it all.

The essence of solid hope is to live our lives in the best way we can. My prayer remains that we shall all unleash our full potential here on earth having the great infinite hope that things are going to get better some day. Hope always comes with a condiment of patience and once we understand this simple truth we will stay in the battle and keep fighting to the end because we know that we are overcomers. I hope that from this day and this very minute your spark of hope will be re-ignited and you will match forward valorous even in the midst of utter despair. There is indeed an infinite hope beyond despair and this hope fully sustains, is solid, is certain and has a future. May your life be painted and curved with words of hope that can never be erased by no one or any circumstance.