Keeping Hope Alive

And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord; And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. (Isaiah 11:1-11 KJV)

Out of a broken, twisted stump, a shoot pushes upward, green and fertile. Out of a broken, rebellious nation, God raises up a Savior and fills him with the Spirit. The triune God brings forth a picture of hope: Messiah. He ushers in an age in which justice finally reigns for the needy and the poor of the earth (see Isa 11:4). He brings the wicked to their rightful end. And he ushers in a time of peace when 'the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea' (Isa 11:9).

Desert contemplative Carlo Carretto (1910-1988) said that 'optimism means faith in men, in their human potential; hope means faith in God and in his omnipotence.' Hope lives at the core of stewardship; a steward manages with the hope of meeting the One he manages for and returning to him his investment with interest (see Lk 16:1-12). But hope itself can be stewarded and nurtured; keeping hope alive in a dark world is a position of immense responsibility. Christians keep hope green and growing by remembering and by reminding others that Jesus is the One who ushers in the age of peace and justice, and he will come again to bring it to fruition. Holocaust survivor Corrie ten Boom (1892-1983) kept hope alive in her writing and speaking.

I didn't used to understand those prophesies in the Bible, but they are now so much clearer to me. It is all about what is going to happen at Jesus' second coming. And the days of the Antichrist, they make you tremble. But it all seemed so distant, and I didn't quite understand it. Now I read about the signs of the times in the newspapers. If I'd never believed in the Bible, I would have believed what I now read in the newspapers. It makes you feel quite awful when you read about wars, war threats, earthquakes, and other natural disasters. If you find it a little difficult and frightening, then do read the last page of the Bible. Yes, the best is still to come.

A black minister once said, 'When I read a sad book, I always have a quick look at the last page. If it tells you that they will come together and will be happy ever after, then I'm happy to read the rest knowing that all is going to be well.'

'And that is exactly what I do with the Bible,' he continued. 'I look at the last page when I feel a little scared. And then I know that Jesus will come again, he who has promised to make everything new so that the earth will be covered in the knowledge of the Lord, like the waters cover the sea. The best is still to come. What great comfort.'

The suffering of today cannot be compared with the glory of what is to come. It is a comfort, but meanwhile there is that certainty today, given to us by the Lord, not a spirit of fear, but a spirit of love, strength, and sensibility. Because of the Holy Spirit you need not fear, even though the mountains fall into the sea. Be filled with God's Spirit, who shows you that God doesn't have problems, only plans. There is never any panic in heaven. God is faithful; His plans do not fail.