Title: Hope is the power to save people
Contents
Hope is the power to save people
Psalm 146: 5
“Blessed is he who makes the God of Jacob his help, and whose hope is in the Lord his God.”
It happened in a hospital. A college student volunteer came into the intensive care unit without knowing it. There was a middle school student who suffered severe burns and was at the crossroads of life and death, wrapped in bandages and lying there. The volunteers looked at the patient's records and began to teach verb changes in English grammar for sophomores in middle school, and the students followed suit for several days. What was surprising, however, was that the boy's condition, which doctors had determined had very little chance of recovery, began to miraculously improve. After a fortnight has passed, we asked the students how they felt about their recovery after going through a difficult period. The boy replied to the doctors who looked at him curiously.
“Actually, I thought I had no prospects, but a college student came in and taught me the verb changes that I will learn in English class next semester. He said I should know these when I get better and go back to school, and then I was sure. Ah! I think the doctor said I would get better. Otherwise, there is no way college hyung will teach you English to learn next semester. From then on, I started to feel happy and hopeful.”
It is said that people without hope die faster than those who live with hope. Someone was hospitalized with a minor illness, and a friend joked, 'You're going to die in three months.' It is said that he died after three months as his condition got worse and worse. This is what happens when there is no hope. But, on the contrary, when hope is seen, a person is immediately revived. So we have to hint at ourselves hope. Instead of saying, 'Oh, it's hard,' while waking up in the morning and stretching, I hope you repeat 'I feel so good', 'Thank you so much', and 'It'll be all right' Saying ‘I am healthy’ makes you really healthy. Everyone who thinks ‘I am happy’ will live very happily. Because hope is a desire accompanied by expectations, and it motivates people to be passionate.
No matter how difficult a human being, as long as there is hope, the possibilities are open. How many friends around you can give you hope like this? Giving hope is like saving a life.
“My soul, wait in silence for God alone, for my hope goes from him” (Psalm 62:5).
There was a soldier who was sent to the jungles of Africa. The unit he belonged to was surrounded by enemies in the middle of the jungle, and only the soldier survived and was annihilated. People thought they were all dead. Six months later, the soldier was rescued from the jungle alone. Those who found him looked at the map he held tightly in their hands and thought. "After all, he survived because he had a map of the jungle!"
But the piece of paper he opened up showed a map of the British subway, not a map of the jungle. Looking at the British subway map, he was able to navigate through the dangerous jungle while recalling the hope that he could return to his homeland and England he had dreamed of alive.
He who had health had hope, and he who had hope had everything.
“I lift up my eyes to the mountains; where will my help come from? My help is from the LORD, who made the heavens and the earth” (Psalm 121:2).
In 1940, a child was born in the Bronx, a slum in New York. The child was left alone at an early age due to the divorce of his parents, and spent his adolescence doing grueling jobs from restaurant waitress to introducing prostitutes. His only pleasure was cinema. I soothed my loneliness by watching movies and imitating actors in the movies. After dropping out of high school, he spent nearly seven years as an idiot with no money in his pocket. Sometimes I had a hard time staying home on the street. Despite this, he did not lose interest in film, and at the age of 27, he went to acting school, and five years later, he released a film in which he starred. Since then, his acting skills have shined, and he has been nominated for an Academy Award seven times. In 1993, at the age of 53, he finally won the Best Actor Award for 'Scent of a Woman'. In his acceptance speech, he told a fan of a girl in the Bronx not to lose hope by revealing his origins. He is Al Pacino, an actor best known for his role in the movie 'The Godfather'. His success was the result of waiting without losing hope despite any difficulties.
Hope didn't exist in the first place. Hope is born out of nowhere. Hope exists only for those who have hope. There is hope for those who believe there is hope, and there is really no hope for those who think there is no such thing as hope.
“The wicked fall in their troubles, but the righteous have hope in their death” (Proverbs 14:32).
Dr. Brizhnitz, a world-renowned clinical psychologist, divides the trainees of the Israeli Army into four groups and marches for 20 km with full armor. Article 2 only said, “From now on, we will march a long distance.” Article 3 said, “We will march 15 km,” but at the 14 km point, we changed it to “March 20 km.” In Article 4, they said, “We will march 25 km,” but at the 14 km point, they announced, “Today’s march will be shortened to a 20 km march.”
Based on these experiments, Dr. Briznitz reports the relationship between morale and stress that soldiers receive depending on the situation as follows. The first group, who marched knowing the exact distance of 20km and the remaining points, had the highest morale and the least stress, while the second group, who did not know the march distance at all, had the least morale and the most stress. However, the point is that the team 4, who marched shorter than the expected distance, suffered much lower morale and more stress than the group 3 who marched longer than the expected distance. In this regard, Dr. Briznitz analyzed, "Hope and despair rather than difficulties or comfort are important issues for humans, and when humans are most stressed, it is not the difficult times, but the lack of hope."
The power that moves this world is hope. If there is no hope of a harvest, the farmer does not sow. If there is no hope of making a profit, the merchant does not do business. Having a good hope is a shortcut to achieving it.
We have an unshakable, unchanging foundation of hope. Our hope is a God who cares for us and is with us anytime, anywhere. When we make God our hope, our positive and active attitude in life will also shine.
“We have this hope, like an anchor to the soul, strong and secure, entering into the veil” (Hebrews 6:19).
“This is the Great Depression. There seems to be no hope at all. Unemployment continues to rise. But what do you enjoy so much?”
At that moment, a church member jumped up from his seat and answered with a bright expression.
“We are singing Jesus Christ now. The fact that Jesus Christ is with us is our greatest hope.”
Faith has the power to turn suffering into hope. Belief in the Absolute is the greatest life asset a human can have. Faith makes the 'morning of hope' sing even on the 'night of hardship'.
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in faith, so that you may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13).
When Nazi Germany was occupying Poland, an old man was sitting in front of an empty desk in a Jewish market in Poland and screaming. "Everyone! Buy the most expensive thing in the world here!” A passerby asked. “No, old man! Do you have nothing to sell?” Then the old man whispered to the man: “I am selling hope. You are selling our nation’s dreams and visions.”
That's right. Hope is a beautiful thing indeed. It is the most expensive and precious thing in the world. Hope! Because it is our life, our power, and the new morning of our lives. Faith is not losing hope. No matter how bad the economy is or how bleak the future may be due to credit card debt, Christians do not lose hope. Because Jesus Christ is the beginning and the source of all our hope. Because of him, Christians have a reason and privilege to live hopefully today.
* Prayer: Lord, who became my joy, my hope, and my life, no matter what storms strike our path in life, trust that you will protect us both physically and spiritually, so that we do not despair, become discouraged, or fear Help me to become a person of faith who sees hope. May you live with God as your hope. May we see Your hand when we are discouraged and never lose our hope of eternal life. I earnestly hope that I will become a loved one and pleasing to the Lord. We pray in the name of our Savior Jesus.