Title: The Giver of Hope
Contents
“O Sovereign LORD, you are my hope and trust from my youth” (Psalm 71:5).
In 2002, the BBC conducted a survey of 1 million British people. The survey was 'Who is the greatest leader in British history?' Winston Churchill took the top spot in the survey. His school record was a mess.
“Bad and unbelievable child. A problem child who has no hope at all and only fights with other children... .” Sexuality was also poor. The geography score barely escaped failing. After three years, he entered the Sandhurst Military Academy. But he has now overtaken Shakespeare as the most admired figure of the British. Where did his power come from? He was a man of thorough prayer. Churchill was a leader who always bowed his head and asked God for help on the battlefield and in Congress. It was this courageous belief that made him the most respected person. God gives infinite power to those who pray. Prayer has transformed a 'hopeless boy' into a 'hopeful leader'.
“Not only that, but we also rejoice in tribulation, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance, perseverance, character, and character, character” (Romans 5:3 4).
Kos Clark at an altitude of 7,028 above sea level. A man without a finger stood in front of the deadly zone of death lurking in the glacial valley and the deadly cold below minus 20-30 degrees Celsius.
He lost his finger on the mountain. In 1991, while climbing McKinley, he fell unconscious due to altitude sickness and exhaustion at a camp at an altitude of 5,700 m.
What came to him after returning home was a painful reality. I couldn't eat or wear it on my own, so I tried to commit suicide over and over again. One holiday he was feeling discouraged about not getting a job he was looking for when he was climbing a mountain when he saw a male climber pointing his finger at him. Next to him stood a boy who looked like a son, with his shoulders slumped and helpless.
The hiker clasped his son's shoulder with his other hand and said:
"Son, look, don't people with disabilities like that work hard while climbing a steep mountain?"
Hearing those words that hit his chest like an echo, strangely enough, he didn't get upset.
"I thought I was of no use, but I can be a hope for someone. I will live my life to give courage to people in difficult situations like myself."
Climber Hong-sik Kim, this is why he was able to stand in front of the course clock, which is 7,028 meters above sea level.
“Rejoice in hope, persevere in affliction, persevere in prayer” (Romans 12:12).
Jose Carreras is one of the three greatest singers of the world. He, too, had an incurable disease at one time. It was July of 1987, at the age of 41, at the height of his fame as a singer. I played the main character in the famous opera ‘La Boheme’, and while I was practicing for a long time, I suddenly collapsed and was taken to the hospital, where I was diagnosed with leukemia.
Thinking, ‘This is the end of it all,’ he remembered Hezekiah and began to cling to God.
“Loving God, if you extend my life a little more, I will live the rest of my life for you.” He started his life fighting the disease with a strong mental power. Even though my hair fell out and my nails and toenails fell off, I did not stop singing and praying. Bone marrow transplantation and arduous chemotherapy worked well with faith, and he finally recovered his health. From then on, his life was not his. Believing that he had been given a new life entirely by God, he sold all his fortune to establish the Jos Carreras Leukemia Foundation in Barcelona and started caring for leukemia patients. He said he would use half of the proceeds from the show for this work.
“Sometimes even sickness is a blessing. Through the fight against leukemia, I have become a person who can think of others more than myself. I am no longer just singing. I am singing to rejoice and celebrate that I am alive, thanking God for extending my life.”
Today, he is living as an evangelist who delivers new hope and life to leukemia patients in the spirit of excitement and hope.
“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).
I pray that all the saints will become people who give hope to others.