Hope Against Hope
In a world that seems to look down upon hope as a naive idea, something only those unacquainted with suffering and reality would ever deign to do, I think it's about time to revisit that timeless ideal.
A man in my friend's home ward recently spoke in Sacrament meeting. This brother is a member of the US military, on a short leave from his assignment in Iraq. He serves as the branch president for Iraq. Right--for the entire country. (It likely goes without saying, but he observed that they don't get 100% home teaching each month.) Shortly after his call as the spiritual leader for that war-torn nation, he was pondering the weight and responsibility of his new stewardship. As can be imagined, he felt somewhat overwhelmed. And the surprising impression came to him: "Pray for peace to be restored to this country." Obedient to the prompting, he began including pleas for peace in his daily prayers. After a little while, however, he understandably became discouraged. Perhaps none understand quite as well as those serving in the military the incredible need for peace in the world. And how far away we are from reaching that reality. To be daily in the front lines in Iraq likely quells any hope for peace. In such circumstances, it is no wonder that this good brother began to wonder what good it was even doing for him to pray for peace to be brought to Iraq. Such an occurrence seemed so unlikely that it was irrational to even hope for it.
But one day, in the midst of these thoughts and doubts, the clear prompting came to him from the Lord: "It is your duty to hope for peace."
Think about that for a minute.
As the branch president, this man needed to hope for peace. He had been called to hope and pray against hope. He had been called to have faith. He had been called to not see by his own eyes--to not be constrained by what he constantly saw--but to trust in heaven's all-seeing might.
Those words struck me, especially in light of the events currently transpiring in Ukraine. I love my Ukrainian brothers and sisters with whom I spent so many cherished months. And it rends my heart to see their country in upheaval. Daily reports of unrest, intrigue, and even bloodshed have at times weakened my hope that peace will soon be restored to the nation I love as my second home. But it is our duty to hope! We cannot give in to despair or doubt or fear, for those stand in opposition to faith. God does not ask us to hope for things that we can see or comprehend with only the mortal frame--he asks us to rise above that, to hope for godly things, and to have faith in him.
In short, he asks us to hope against hope.
I have long loved the verses found in Romans 4 in reference to Abraham's hope. This great patriarch of the Lord long desired to have children, yet that blessing was withheld from him for years, even until the age in which worldly wisdom declared it impossible for him and his wife to become parents. And yet he "against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken." And why did he have hope? Not because it seemed logical to him. Not because his life was easy and he had never experienced suffering. Not because he was naive and didn't know any better. But because God had commanded him to, and he believed the promises of God. He was "not weak in faith" and he "staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God." Because of his faith in God, he was able to have this hope against hope that those things he mortally understood were not completely correct, and that illogical miracles could occur. He was "fully persuaded that, what (God) had promised, he was able also to perform." His faith allowed him to look beyond the mortal realm of understanding and glimpse eternity--he believed in the might and majesty of God and thus was able to hope.
And so can we. God wants us to hope. He wants us to have faith. He wants us to trust him enough to suspend our mortal comprehension and trust his eternal perspective and knowledge. He wants us to believe in and pray for miracles.
So I hope against hope. And I pray for peace.
A man in my friend's home ward recently spoke in Sacrament meeting. This brother is a member of the US military, on a short leave from his assignment in Iraq. He serves as the branch president for Iraq. Right--for the entire country. (It likely goes without saying, but he observed that they don't get 100% home teaching each month.) Shortly after his call as the spiritual leader for that war-torn nation, he was pondering the weight and responsibility of his new stewardship. As can be imagined, he felt somewhat overwhelmed. And the surprising impression came to him: "Pray for peace to be restored to this country." Obedient to the prompting, he began including pleas for peace in his daily prayers. After a little while, however, he understandably became discouraged. Perhaps none understand quite as well as those serving in the military the incredible need for peace in the world. And how far away we are from reaching that reality. To be daily in the front lines in Iraq likely quells any hope for peace. In such circumstances, it is no wonder that this good brother began to wonder what good it was even doing for him to pray for peace to be brought to Iraq. Such an occurrence seemed so unlikely that it was irrational to even hope for it.
But one day, in the midst of these thoughts and doubts, the clear prompting came to him from the Lord: "It is your duty to hope for peace."
Think about that for a minute.
As the branch president, this man needed to hope for peace. He had been called to hope and pray against hope. He had been called to have faith. He had been called to not see by his own eyes--to not be constrained by what he constantly saw--but to trust in heaven's all-seeing might.
Those words struck me, especially in light of the events currently transpiring in Ukraine. I love my Ukrainian brothers and sisters with whom I spent so many cherished months. And it rends my heart to see their country in upheaval. Daily reports of unrest, intrigue, and even bloodshed have at times weakened my hope that peace will soon be restored to the nation I love as my second home. But it is our duty to hope! We cannot give in to despair or doubt or fear, for those stand in opposition to faith. God does not ask us to hope for things that we can see or comprehend with only the mortal frame--he asks us to rise above that, to hope for godly things, and to have faith in him.
In short, he asks us to hope against hope.
I have long loved the verses found in Romans 4 in reference to Abraham's hope. This great patriarch of the Lord long desired to have children, yet that blessing was withheld from him for years, even until the age in which worldly wisdom declared it impossible for him and his wife to become parents. And yet he "against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken." And why did he have hope? Not because it seemed logical to him. Not because his life was easy and he had never experienced suffering. Not because he was naive and didn't know any better. But because God had commanded him to, and he believed the promises of God. He was "not weak in faith" and he "staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God." Because of his faith in God, he was able to have this hope against hope that those things he mortally understood were not completely correct, and that illogical miracles could occur. He was "fully persuaded that, what (God) had promised, he was able also to perform." His faith allowed him to look beyond the mortal realm of understanding and glimpse eternity--he believed in the might and majesty of God and thus was able to hope.
And so can we. God wants us to hope. He wants us to have faith. He wants us to trust him enough to suspend our mortal comprehension and trust his eternal perspective and knowledge. He wants us to believe in and pray for miracles.
So I hope against hope. And I pray for peace.
Comments
Post a Comment