Happiness
When we have hope in Christ, we come to know true happiness.
Ecclesiastes 2:26; To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
“Money can’t buy you happiness.” Just look at Hollywood and all the people that have all the money they could ever need and still they are unhappy. And how many people do you know who have very little, but are some of the happiest people you know. Money is fleeting, but happiness and joy are eternal when it is grounded in God. Happiness is internal and not external. “You can’t take it with you,” is a saying about money, wealth, and death. When we die our wealth will mean nothing. Those that have stored up treasures here on earth and not in heaven will lose everything when their time of judgment comes.
Optimistic
The optimistic person is optimistic because of their hope.
2 Timothy 2:11-12; And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard d what I have entrusted to him for that day.
Even though Paul was in prison he still had an optimist attitude. But not all Christian have an attitude like Paul. I talked about this in the blog “Serving God.” The pessimistic Christian is always finding fault in others and spends more times tearing people down as opposed to lifting people up. The optimistic Christian will focus on how we can reach out to others and show love. The optimistic Christian will find ways to serve instead of excuses not to serve.
Perspective
With hope comes perspective. Things are not as bad as they seem if God is in control.
Leviticus 26:40-45; “ ‘But if they will confess their sins and the sins of their fathers—their treachery against me and their hostility toward me, which made me hostile toward them so that I sent them into the land of their enemies—then when their uncircumcised hearts are humbled and they pay for their sin, I will remember my covenant with Jacob and my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land. For the land will be deserted by them and will enjoy its Sabbaths while it lies desolate without them. They will pay for their sins because they rejected my laws and abhorred my decrees. Yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them or abhor them so as to destroy them completely, breaking my covenant with them. I am the LORD their God. But for their sake I will remember the covenant with their ancestors whom I brought out of Egypt in the sight of the nations to be their God. I am the LORD.’ ”
We can look through the entire Bible and see examples where God’s people went through hardship only for God to have a purpose for it. We see it with Joseph and how God used him to save his family. We read about David and how God protected him when Saul was trying to kill him, only to make David king. We even see it with Christ on the cross. At the time the disciples thought everything they had been standing for was gone. They didn’t see God’s perspective.
God sees things far beyond what we can see. Apart of having hope is that when times are toughest we need to praise God first instead of saying, “poor me.” Jenny and I have been trying to have a child for a few years now, but it is not looking like it will happen. We must have hope that God has a reason for us not having a child. If it is His will we will have a child, but if not then we need to continue to love and trust Him.
Encouragement
Our hope comes from the encouragement we get from Scripture and from each other.
Romans 15:4-6; For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
How can we do a better job of encouraging each other? First we must love each other. When someone falls our first responses should not be to point a finger, but to show them love. When need to be that shoulder for someone to cry on. As Christians let us find encouragement from the Holy Scripture that has provided. And let us share that encouragement with those around us who so desperately need it.
I ran across this story from Scott Webber the pastor of Christian Church of Estes Park.
“Kurt Cobain died about 8 years ago. I remember the day I picked up the newspaper and read about it. He was the founder and lead singer of the rock group "Nirvana." His death was a suicide. He took a shotgun, pointed it to his head, and killed himself. The newspaper was filled with the words of fans and commentators in disbelief saying "Why? It makes no sense." "He had it all . . . a great career, a huge following, plenty of money, a wife and a 19 month old daughter . . . Why?" To most people it made no sense. But I remember sitting at my desk thinking. "Yes it does. It makes sense. Kurt Cobain was living out his beliefs to their logical extreme." You see, Kurt Cobain was a self-professed humanist and nihilist. In other words, he believed there was no God and that there was no meaning or purpose to life. His music (poetry) could not be clearer on this matter.
Kurt Cobain’s music was grunge rock. He pioneered this type of music. The alternative rock style of today has evolved from grunge rock. Kurt had a disdain for anything mainstream or acceptable to society. He was a child of divorce. At the age of eight he began to be shifted from home to home, sometimes even being homeless. He was very vocal about his bitterness from that experience. He developed his belief that life was basically rotten and meaningless.
His music often spoke of his anger and disillusionment. One of his most famous songs was called "Nevermind." Its recurring line was "Oh well, whatever, nevermind." Another song he wrote never got released. It was too objectionable to the label company, but Kurt liked it. It was called, "I Hate Myself, And I Want To Die." In another song called "Smells Like Teen Spirit," a well-known line says, "I feel stupid and contagious, here we are, now entertain us." The video of that song was voted best video of the decade of the 90’s.
Friends of Cobain say he lived up to his music. He often acted without reason. He was constantly on an emotional roller coaster. But his dips into despair got deeper and deeper. Once, a member of his road crew asked him why he was moping around so much. Cobain replied, "I’m awake, aren’t I?" Kurt Cobain was a young man fueled by nihilism. He had passion, but for nothing. He had a void in his heart that nothing he pursued could fill, and he believed that nothing could or ever would. He had no purpose, no meaning, and he simply lived out his belief in his worldview to its logical conclusion.
He reminds me of another man. Solomon. Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes of pursuing all of the things the world has to offer. He also wrote of the despair they brought him. They offered no meaning. Solomon, however, concluded differently than Kurt Cobain. He concluded that purpose and meaning were found in the living God. Only knowing and serving Him could you rise above that level of despair. And there is even better news than that. Now, God has declared through His Son how much He loves us, and that He wants to spend eternity with us.”
Those that don’t know Christ are doomed to be without hope. But those that know Christ have hope in this life and the next.
So what does Hope mean to you?
