Hope for Tomorrow Brings Strength for Today

Jay Wallace Hamilton once said, “When there’s no hope for the future, there’s no power in the present.” When we don't have something that we're longing for, or looking forward to, or seeing something that will change for the better, we don't have the power to make it today. The great need for today is hope.

Robert Morgan once wrote,
In his book, Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl tells of his years trapped in the indescribable horrors of Auschwitz and Dachau. He was transported there like a despised animal, given two minutes to strip naked or be whipped, every hair was shaved from his body, and he was condemned to a living death. His father, mother, brother, and wife died in the camps or were sent to the gas ovens. His existence was full of cold, fear, starvation, pain, lice and vermin, dehumanization, exhaustion, and terror.
Frankl wrote that he was able to survive because he never lost the quality of hope. Those prisoners who lost faith in the future were doomed. When a prisoner lost hope, Frankl said, he let himself decline, becoming subject to mental and physical decay. He would die from the inside out.
Frankl said that this usually happened quite suddenly. One morning a prisoner would just refuse to get up. He wouldn’t get dressed or wash or go outside to the parade grounds. No amount of pleading by his fellow prisoners would help. No threatening by the captors would have any effect. Losing all hope, he had simply given up. He would lay there in his own excrement till he died. American soldiers later told Frankl that this behavior pattern existed also among prisoners of war, and was called “give-up-itis.”
When a prisoner lost hope, said Frankl, “he lost his spiritual hold.”[1]

  Pulitzer Prize winner, Joseph Hallinan, wrote, “Last month, in Nashport, Ohio, a couple who held hands at breakfast every morning, even after 70 years of marriage, died 15 hours apart. The couple's eight children say the two had been inseparable since meeting as teenagers, once sharing the bottom of a bunk bed on a ferry rather than spending even one night apart. "We knew when one went, the other was going to go," their daughter told the local newspaper.”[2] In essence, they died because they had just given up hope.
 
 Is there something to hope? Can hope change your circumstances? Does the hope you have for tomorrow give you power to live in the present?

  Christians can experience hope even in dark circumstances. During the first century, the Christian community in Rome faced persecution. They were misunderstood, mistreated, and maligned for their Christian faith. As a result, these first-century Christians were cast out of Rome, and many found their way to Roman colonies throughout the known world at the time. The Christians had to start over in these new communities due to being displaced. In verse one, Peter calls these believers “pilgrims.” We might call them “refugees”. The Contemporary English Version says, “To God’s people who are scattered like foreigners.”
 
Peter writes this book not to complain, but to give them courage and let them know that they can have hope for tomorrow. He writes,

  1 Peter 1:3–5 (NKJV)
 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,
 5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.


  It's interesting that he doesn't start with their problems. He will talk about their sufferings later on in the book, but he starts with a note of praise. He says, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." He wants them to look up and gain a different perspective, one of rejoicing. The word "blessed" in English means “fortunate, favored, and happy.” However, this word in Greek is entirely different. It's where we get the word "eulogy" from, which means to “speak well of someone.”

  Peter starts off by saying, "Let's have a great word for Jesus. Let's sing a song about our blessed God. Let's think and talk about something that God has done in our lives." This changes the perspective from our problems to God's power to solve them. We ought to rejoice no matter our circumstances. It could be dark in your life, but blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; God has done something great in our lives. It's changing our perspective.

  I haven't been to a Harvard football game, but I heard a humorous story about one of their games. The Harvard student section during football season oftentimes loses to state schools like Virginia Tech or Virginia, and when the opposing team scores a touchdown, the student section has come up with a chant that goes something like this: "That's all right, that's okay, you're going to work for us someday."
  
 These Harvard students realized that they may not beat other schools in football, but they may beat them in business. This is a reminder that no matter what you're facing, there's always a way to change your perspective.

  You may be ridiculed at work because you're the only Christian, or you may be married to an unbeliever who mischaracterizes your faith. You may have a target on your back in school because of your Christian convictions. Peter says, “Let’s lift up our eyes to God, Who remains on His throne! Let’s rejoice!” We should take the magnifying glass off of our problems and put it on a God who is big enough to solve them.

  This reminds me of Psalm 34:1-3, which says, "I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the LORD; The humble shall hear of it and be glad. Oh, magnify the LORD with me, And let us exalt His name together.”
  
“Dear God, thank You for all Your blessings. Today, I magnify You. I exalt You. I bless Your name. Help me take the focus off of my problems. Thank You for Your power to help me through today. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”
 
   [1] Robert J. Morgan, Nelson’s Complete Book of Stories, Illustrations, and Quotes, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2000), 449–450.
   [2] https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/kidding-ourselves/201405/the-remarkable-power-hope, accessed 3/19/2024.
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Dr. Josh Franklin

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