Hope Springs Eternal<\/b><\/p>\n
The English poet Alexander Pope wrote, \u201cHope springs eternal in the human breast: Man never is, but always to be blest.\u201d But where does man turn when hope dries up?<\/p>\n
The director of a medical clinic told of a terminally ill young man who came in for his usual treatment. A new doctor who was on duty said to him casually and cruelly, \u201cYou know, don\u2019t you, that you won\u2019t live out the year?\u201d<\/p>\n
As the young man left, he stopped by the director\u2019s desk and wept. \u201cThat man took away my hope,\u201d he blurted out.<\/p>\n
\u201cI guess he did,\u201d replied the director. \u201cMaybe it\u2019s time to find a new one.\u201d<\/p>\n
Commenting on this incident, Lewis Smedes wrote, \u201cIs there a hope when hope is taken away? Is there hope when the situation is hopeless? That question leads us to Christian hope, for in the Bible, hope is no longer a passion for the possible. It becomes a passion for the promise.\u201d<\/p>\n
Our Daily Bread, December 19, 1996<\/p>\n
Famous Athiest<\/b><\/p>\n
A little over a month before he died, the famous atheist Jean-Paul Sartre declared that he so strongly resisted feelings of despair that he would say to himself, \u201cI know I shall die in hope.\u201d Then in profound sadness, he would add, \u201cBut hope needs a foundation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Our Daily Bread, April 17, 1995<\/p>\n
Hope Means\u2026<\/b><\/p>\n
Hope means hoping when things are hopeless, or it is no virtue at all…As long as matters are really hopeful, hope is mere flattery or platitude; it is only when everything is hopeless that hope begins to be a strength. <\/p>\n
G. K. Chesterton, Quoted in Signs of the Times, April 1993, p. 6<\/p>\n
College Tuition<\/b><\/p>\n
From Parade magazine comes the story of self-made millionaire Eugene Land, who greatly changed the lives of a sixth-grade class in East Harlem. Mr. Lang had been asked to speak to a class of 59 sixth-graders. What could he say to inspire these students, most of whom would drop out of school? He wondered how he could get these predominantly black and Puerto Rican children even to look at him. Scrapping his notes, he decided to speak to them from his heart. <\/p>\n
\u201cStay in school,\u201d he admonished, \u201cand I\u2019ll help pay the college tuition for every one of you.\u201d At that moment the lives of these students changed. For the first time they had hope. Said one student, \u201cI had something to look forward to, something waiting for me. It was a golden feeling.\u201d Nearly 90 percent of that class went on to graduate from high school.<\/p>\n
Source unknown<\/p>\n
Alexander the Great<\/b><\/p>\n
As Alexander the Great was setting out on his conquest of Asia, he inquired into the finances of his followers. To ensure that they would not be troubled over the welfare of their dependents during their absence, he distributed crown estates and revenues among them. When he had thus disposed of nearly all the royal resources, his friend General Perdiccas asked Alexander what he had reserved for himself. \u201cHope,\u201d answered the king. \u201cIn that case,\u201d said Perdiccas, \u201cwe who share in your labors will also take part in your hopes.\u201d He then refused the estate allotted to him, and several other of the king\u2019s friends did the same. <\/p>\n
Daily Walk, May 25, 1992. <\/p>\n
Thirty Years\u2019 War<\/b><\/p>\n
During the Thirty Years\u2019 War in the 17th century, German pastor Paul Gerhardt and his family were forced to flee from their home. One night as they stayed in a small village inn, homeless and afraid, his wife broke down and cried openly in despair. To comfort her, Gerhardt reminded her of Scripture promises about God\u2019s provision and keeping. Then, going out to the garden to be alone, he too broke down and wept. He felt he had come to his darkest hour. <\/p>\n
Soon afterward, Gerhardt felt the burden lifted and sensed anew the Lord\u2019s presence. Taking his pen, he wrote a hymn that has brought comfort to many. <\/p>\n
\u201cGive to the winds thy fears; hope, and be undismayed; God hears thy sighs and counts thy tears; God shall lift up thy head. Through waves and clouds and storms He gently clears the way. Wait thou His time, so shall the night soon end in joyous day.\u201d<\/p>\n
It is often in our darkest times that God makes His presence known most clearly. He uses our sufferings and troubles to show us that He is our only source of strength. And when we see this truth, like Pastor Gerhardt, we receive new hope. <\/p>\n
Are you facing a great trial? Take heart. Put yourself in God\u2019s hands. Wait for His timing. He will give you a \u201csong in the night.\u201d <\/p>\n
Our Daily Bread, May 7, 1992<\/p>\n
Paul and Barnabas<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cHere it appears either Paul or Barnabas went too far. It must have been a violent disagreement to separate two associates who were so closely united. Indeed, the text indicates as much. <\/p>\n
\u201cSuch examples are written for our consolation: for it is a great comfort to us to hear that great saints, who have the Spirit of God, also struggle. Those who say that saints do not sin would deprive us of this comfort. <\/p>\n
\u201cSamson, David, and many other celebrated men full of the Holy Spirit fell into grievous sins. Job and Jeremiah cursed the day of their birth; Elijah and Jonah were weary of life and desired death.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one has ever fallen so grievously that he may not rise again. Conversely, no one stands so firmly that he may not fall. If Peter (and Paul and Barnabas) fell, I too may fall. If they rose again, I too may rise again.\u201d <\/p>\n
– Martin Luther<\/p>\n
Source unknown<\/p>\n
The Dying Boy<\/b><\/p>\n
The school system in a large city had a program to help children keep up with their school work during stays in the city\u2019s hospitals. One day a teacher who was assigned to the program received a routine call asking her to visit a particular child. She took the child\u2019s name and room number and talked briefly with the child\u2019s regular class teacher. \u201cWe\u2019re studying nouns and adverbs in his class now,\u201d the regular teacher said, \u201cand I\u2019d be grateful if you could help him understand them so he doesn\u2019t fall too far behind.\u201d <\/p>\n
The hospital program teacher went to see the boy that afternoon. No one had mentioned to her that the boy had been badly burned and was in great pain. Upset at the sight of the boy, she stammered as she told him, \u201cI\u2019ve been sent by your school to help you with nouns and adverbs.\u201d When she left she felt she hadn\u2019t accomplished much. But the next day, a nurse asked her, \u201cWhat did you do to that boy?\u201d The teacher felt she must have done something wrong and began to apologize. \u201cNo, no,\u201d said the nurse. \u201cYou don\u2019t know what I mean. We\u2019ve been worried about that little boy, but ever since yesterday, his whole attitude has changed. He\u2019s fighting back, responding to treatment. It\u2019s as though he\u2019s decided to live.\u201d <\/p>\n
Two weeks later the boy explained that he had completely given up hope until the teacher arrived. Everything changed when he came to a simple realization. He expressed it this way: \u201cThey wouldn\u2019t send a teacher to work on nouns and adverbs with a dying boy, would they?\u201d <\/p>\n
Bits and Pieces, July, 1991<\/p>\n
Little League<\/b><\/p>\n
A man approached a little league baseball game one afternoon. He asked a boy in the dugout what the score was. The boy responded, \u201cEighteen to nothing\u2014we\u2019re behind.\u201d \u201cBoy,\u201d said the spectator, \u201cI\u2019ll bet you\u2019re discouraged.\u201d \u201cWhy should I be discouraged?\u201d replied the little boy. \u201cWe haven\u2019t even gotten up to bat yet!\u201d<\/p>\n
A man sentenced to death obtained a reprieve by assuring the king he would teach his majesty\u2019s horse to fly within the year\u2014on the condition that if he didn\u2019t succeed, he would be put to death at the end of the year. \u201cWithin a year,\u201d the man explained later, \u201cthe king may die, or I may die, or the horse may die. Furthermore, in a year, who knows? Maybe the horse will learn to fly.\u201d <\/p>\n
– Bernard M. Baruch<\/p>\n
Source unknown<\/p>\n
Quote<\/b><\/p>\n
\u2022 There are no hopeless situations; there are only people who have grown hopeless about them. – Clare Boothe Luce<\/p>\n
Source unknown<\/p>\n
Laboratory Experiment<\/b><\/p>\n
A number of years ago researchers performed an experiment to see the effect hope has on those undergoing hardship. Two sets of laboratory rats were placed in separate tubs of water. The researchers left one set in the water and found that within an hour they had all drowned. The other rats were periodically lifted out of the water and then returned. When that happened, the second set of rats swam for over 24 hours. Why? Not because they were given a rest, but because they suddenly had hope! <\/p>\n
Those animals somehow hoped that if they could stay afloat just a little longer, someone would reach down and rescue them. If hope holds such power for unthinking rodents, how much greater should is effect be on our lives. <\/p>\n
Today in the Word, May, 1990, MBI, p. 34<\/p>\n
God Ain\u2019t Dead!<\/b><\/p>\n
I am not a connoisseur of great art, but from time to time a painting or picture will really speak a clear, strong message to me. Some time ago I saw a picture of an old burned-out mountain shack. All that remained was the chimney…the charred debris of what had been that family\u2019s sole possession. In front of this destroyed home stood an old grandfather-looking man dressed only in his underclothes with a small boy clutching a pair of patched overalls. It was evident that the child was crying. Beneath the picture were the words which the artist felt the old man was speaking to the boy. They were simple words, yet they presented a profound theology and philosophy of life. Those words were, \u201cHush child, God ain\u2019t dead!\u201d <\/p>\n
That vivid picture of that burned-out mountain shack, that old man, the weeping child, and those words \u201cGod ain\u2019t dead\u201d keep returning to my mind. Instead of it being a reminder of the despair of life, it has come to be a reminder of hope! I need reminders that there is hope in this world. <\/p>\n
In the midst of all of life\u2019s troubles and failures, I need mental pictures to remind me that all is not lost as long as God is alive and in control of His world. <\/p>\n
James DeLoach, associate pastor of the Second Baptist Church of Houston, quoted in When God Was Taken Captive, W. Aldrich, Multnomah, 1989, p. 24.<\/p>\n
Flagstaff Flooding<\/b><\/p>\n
One night at dinner a man, who had spent many summers in Maine, fascinated his companions by telling of his experiences in a little town named Flagstaff. The town was to be flooded, as part of a large lake for which a dam was being built. In the months before it was to be flooded, all improvements and repairs in the whole town were stopped. What was the use of painting a house if it were to be covered with water in six months? Why repair anything when the whole village was to be wiped out? So, week by week, the whole town became more and more bedraggled, more gone to seed, more woebegone. Then he added by way of explanation: <\/p>\n
\u201cWhere there is no faith in the future, there is no power in the present.\u201d <\/p>\n
Halford E. Luccock, Unfinished Business.<\/p>\n
Nothing<\/b><\/p>\n
In the novel, \u201cCat\u2019s Cradle\u201d by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., an important book comes to light. It is titled \u201cWhat Can a Thoughtful Man Hope for Mankind on Earth, Given the Experience of the Past Million Years?\u201d The chief character is anxious to read it. But when he does, he finds that it doesn\u2019t take long. The whole book consists of one word: \u201cNothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., Cat\u2019s Cradle.<\/p>\n
Grave Inscription<\/b><\/p>\n
Typical inscription on a grave in Paul\u2019s day: <\/p>\n
I was not I became I am not I care not<\/p>\n
Warren Wiersbe, Be Ready, p. 83<\/p>\n
George Bernard Shaw<\/b><\/p>\n
George Bernard Shaw is perhaps most renowned as a free thinker and liberal philosopher. In his last writings we read, \u201cThe science to which I pinned my faith is bankrupt. Its counsels, which should have established the millennium, led, instead, directly to the suicide of Europe. I believed them once. In their name I helped to destroy the faith of millions of worshippers in the temples of a thousand creeds. And now they look at me and witness the great tragedy of an atheist who has lost his faith.\u201d<\/p>\n
Source unknown<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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