Where To Hang Your Hopes

We all hang our hopes on one thing or another throughout our lives. Once my wife and I were out in Las Vegas. On our way back into the hotel for the night, we walked through the casino floor and saw a woman playing the slots. One quarter after another. Ok, not so unusual in Vegas. However, the next morning when we were leaving for an early adventure, the same woman was at the same machine in the same clothes as the night before. She was hitting the bet button and pulling the crank over and over with who appeared to be a not too happy husband behind her. It was like she was just working out that last big payout. If she hit that jackpot it was a lifechanging amount of money. It was like she pinned all her hopes and dreams on hearing the winner bells.

I know that’s not realistic to expect the big win. The lights all over the Vegas strip certainly weren’t paid for by all the winners.

Well, what could be less of a gamble? How about the stock market. Sometimes there is just a sure thing. I was in high school back in the 1980s when Chrysler was about to go bankrupt. I was watching their stock plumet to under a dollar. I told my dad to please go buy some, it was certain President Reagan would bail them out. Dad didn’t, but Reagan did. Within months it was up 3000%. I saw GM in the same boat 30 years later and thought here was my chance to right history and bought it. They went bankrupt and I was out my investment.

We all like to think there is a sure thing. Not at the race track, not at the Super Bowl, not the Nigerian Prince promising me a 10th of his fortune, and not even banks. I’ve read stories that it still happens were a bank fails and customers only get what was insured.

Ok, so those are all bad examples to hang your hopes on. So why do we keep hoping? We live in a world where the majority of people are pessimistic. According to Statista.com 82 percent of the world identifies as pessimistic. But hope is important. It is more important than most people think.

Doctor Adam Stern of Harvard Medical understands the importance of hope. He wrote:

“The topic of hope is low-hanging fruit for pop culture and even politics: Not all that long ago, one US president hailed from a town called Hope, and another campaigned on it. But hope is also beginning to reveal its value in scientific studies. Among young adults with chronic illnesses, greater degrees of hope are associated with improved coping, well-being, and engagement in healthy behaviors. It also protects against depression and suicide. Among teens, hope is linked with health, quality of life, self-esteem, and a sense of purpose. It is an essential factor for developing both maturity and resilience.”

“Fortunately, such benefits also extend into later life, as the opportunities for calamity start to increase. Our bodies fail us. We may experience life's setbacks like losing jobs, relationships, or family members. If our early challenges are so often related to growing and developing into healthy adults, later life can be thought of as a period of consolidation and acceptance of one's self, even as the physical body declines and circumstances shift for the worse.”

He went on to say:

“…. hope can be an opportunity for us to process events that seem insurmountable. A massive setback in life, a crushing accident, a vigil held during a relative's last days in the intensive care unit, or even our own final months living with a fatal disease can be times when hope for comfort or reprieve serves as a pathway from one stage to the next.”

And, he’s not the only one. Dr Brian Lawlor of Trinity College in Dublin says this of hope:

“… your brain operates more effectively, and you feel better, if you have hope when faced with adversity and uncertainty. But hope isn’t a given, you have to work at it, and connect outside yourself for it to take root and be experienced in your brain. Hope can be a powerful elixir for health: trust, caring and setting realistic goals aimed at well-being and quality of life can turn fear and stigma inside out.”

These are all great reasons to have hope; better mental health, better attitudes, just better health in general. But what reasons do we have for hope?

1. Love gives us hope

Love is powerful. And its effects are visible. But if love between us were a visible bright light, it would be blindly bright from our Lord.

Think of how many things the has Lord had done for you. How much of your life has personally been affected by His love. Christ came to cure the lame, heal the blind, and even raise the dead.