The Hope Within

Recently, I heard Chip Ingram give an explanation of what it means when Christians speak of hope. He explained that the word "hope" is not used by Christians to mean wishful thinking or that they are guessing as to what will happen. Christian hope is confidence in what is to come. It is like the knowledge kids have about Christmas. Christmas is coming and they know Christmas involves toys. It is not wishful thinking to believe that there will be a holiday called Christmas. It is coming and that coming stirs up hope in a child. Of course, this is not a perfect example. The perfect example is Christ. Israel hoped in the certainty that God would send a Messiah and God did in Christ Jesus. Likewise, Christians hope in the certainty that all who have a relationship with Christ have the question of eternity settled. But even more, we have hope in the certainty that Christ will come again and put an end to death for good. At the cross, Christ made death but a shadow for those who believe. At his second coming, death will not even exist.

That is the source of our hope for Macayla. She is now a victim, like we all are, of a fallen world where death and disease destroy. But because of Christ, these are but shadows now and our hope, our confidence, is in the fact that she will be whole again. It is easy for that hope to be dimmed a bit when we are reminded of the real suffering she experiences. Her bladder beginning to fail, her tongue losing tone, and her frequent gagging and inability to breathe are just some of the reminders of the disease and the death it brings. When we call death a shadow because of Christ's cross, it doesn't mean that death became less real. It means that eternity with Christ is an ultimate reality and our temporal sufferings and death now fade in comparison to this eternal and ultimate existence. So, when we are reminded of the harsh reality of Macayla's disease, we can also be reminded of how infinitely more real her eternity is with Christ. It doesn't mean we are not saddened by all of this. We are sad and we are joyful. Ultimately, in the end, we will be joyful.