Longing for a Hopeless Heaven
I did not want to write this blog. But after my recent FBB podcast with Jojo Ruba, our conversation about hope would not let go of my heart. Why? Because in spite of the reality of God’s renewal and hope, I personally feel neither of those things right now. This is probably not a news flash for most of you, but it is a fact that many Christians, including me, are not strangers to despair and feelings of hopelessness. How, then, can we make sense of God’s promises to renew us now and forever?
I was diagnosed a few years ago with several mental illnesses. I’ve experienced much healing since then, but depression and anxiety continue to plague many of my days. In such times, I feel only despair and sadness. I find myself asking, “Where, then, is my hope? Where is my joy and gladness and passion?” I know persistent sadness is a problem with my brain. I also know my occasional inability to feel hope and joy does not prove the non-existence of these things. Nevertheless, when I cannot feel the reality of God’s renewing hope, writing a blog about hope seems unrealistic, if not impossible.
That must be why God put this issue on my heart. In His grace He has made my depression an incredible opportunity to reflect on the need to live my life based upon His declared reality, not my faulty perception of it. Here, then, is the fundamental truth by which we must live.
God tells us to have hope, not feel hope.
For a person with a mood disorder this is absolutely amazing news. It means that having hope is a state of being that God creates for Believers in order to anchor our reality in him (Hebrews 6:19) so that we do not despair like the culture around us (1 Thessalonians 4:13). This means we must learn that the primary purpose of hope is not to create a feeling of happiness in this life. Job himself expresses over and over how hopeless he feels, and yet he has hope as a possession, a lens through which to see reality. In the face of total loss and utter hopelessness he can still declare, “I know that my Redeemer lives!” (Job 19:25). As followers of Jesus we get to experience this hope as well when we labor and strive in doing God’s kingdom work (I Timothy 4:10), especially if we continue to labour when we do not feel like it. God graciously develops perseverance through surrender and repetition of God’s promises to our souls (Rom. 5:1-5).
I am so grateful that God has taught me apologetics because it reminds me cognitively of the hope I have regardless of how I feel at the moment. The defense of God is the possession of that lens through which Job saw reality. The facts of our hope do not change. Instead they change us. How can we not be changed when the Spirit takes hold of our hearts and tells us of the plans He has for us, plans to prosper us, not harm us, but instead plans for a future (Jeremiah 29:11)? How amazing it is that God connects our future and our hope so intimately for our life on earth!
“In His grace He has made my depression an incredible opportunity to reflect on the need to live my life based upon His declared reality, not my faulty perception of it”
This hope carries us through changing environments and emotions because it reminds us that our future is secure in heaven where no hope is needed. ‘For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have?’ (Romans 8:24). Do you see it? In heaven we will be without hope because hope will no longer be needed. As Christians we long for the day when we will have everything He promised! A heaven where hope is realized is therefore our deepest desire. The longing for an eternity under a peaceful, loving Sovereign is the ultimate expression of the Christian culture of love and joy, because no matter how we feel about it, we are promised a gracious return to the Garden we willfully threw away (Rev. 22:1-5).
As we interact with the culture let us not be afraid to ask people for the source of their hope. We can ask, “What does hope mean to them?” Where do they go when they have lost all hope? But here’s the really interesting thing. We can share that as Christians we also feel much hopelessness and despair. But then we will find that it is there, in that place, that we become instruments of hope to those who have none, even when we do not feel it ourselves. Remember, hope is a fact, not a feeling. The hope that our friends and neighbors need just as much as we, is the hope of the Gospel—centred in our rescuer Jesus. The facts of our hope all emanate from Him, His life and work, and so we trust in him, not in how we feel.
Our Annual Be Ready Conference is back! This year at Be Ready 2020 our theme is ‘Conversations that Matter’. We'll equip you to have conversations with family and friends on matters of faith and culture. Learn how you can explain your faith to others and how you can strengthen your own family and children.