UPHOLDING HOPE AND HELP

“I will strengthen you, Yes, I WILL HELP YOU, I WILL UPHOLD YOU with My righteous right hand’” – Isaiah 41:10b

GOD supplies His children with UPHOLDING HOPE and HELP: “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I WILL HELP YOU, I WILL UPHOLD YOU with My righteous right hand’” (Isa.41:10). Upholding Hope – the Hope to cope and ultimately conquer – is available in Christ, through His Word and the Holy Spirit.  Not every miracle is instantaneous. Some miracles manifest through the process of time, such that the waiting period is a coping season – when the heart needs upholding. It can be hard to know where to turn to for help at such times of trials.

Two maxims are true: “No pain, No gain” and “No hope, No cope.” The battle to cope with the daily temptations to disobey and throw in the towel on our responsibilities is fought with the weapon of Hope. The battle to keep on hoping is won with the weapon of Scriptures: “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that by the endurance and by the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope” (Rom.15:4). Billy Graham said: “I don’t think people can live without hope. What oxygen is to the lungs, Hope is to our survival in this world – and the Bible is filled with Hope!”

The Bible speaks of a divine reality that’s called ‘The Rejoicing of Hope’: “but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the REJOICING of HOPE firm to the end” (Heb.3:6). Hope fills the afflicted soul with such inward joy and consolation, that it can laugh while tears are in the eye, and sigh and sing all in a breath.

Over four decades ago, a diving accident left Joni Eareckson Tada, a quadriplegic, but she’s coped through Hope. Even as she faces new battles – unrelenting pain and breast cancer – she sees God’s faithfulness in the little things. One night she might awake in discomfort and pain; the next day she is sitting under a shady tree, absorbed in the day’s beauty and breeze. In her book, Something Greater Than Healing, Joni wrote, “This is what it means that Hope never fails. Last night I was ready to throw in the towel and give up. Today, it’s a beautiful day.” The battle requires her active participation. She takes as her theme Hebrews 10:38: “But my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.” Her voice is vigorous: “I do not want to be one of those who shrink back. I don’t want to tarnish His name.”

When asked, “How can a good God allow such suffering in the world?” Joni responded: “When people ask that question – and I struggle with that question – we aren’t accepting the fact that this earth is wired to be difficult. The rule of thumb is that we experience much suffering because we live in a fallen world, and it is groaning under the weight of a heavy curse. If God being good means that He has to get rid of sin, it means He would have to get rid of sinners. God is a God of great generosity and great mercy, so He is keeping the execution of suffering. He’s not closing the curtain on suffering until there is more time to gather more people into the fold of Christ’s fellowship.” That’s Upholding Hope on display and demonstration!

Whether in Time or Eternity, Upholding Hope will never be in vain. Upholding Hope invites Divine Help: “Behold, all those who were incensed against you shall be ashamed and disgraced; they shall be as nothing, and those who strive with you shall perish.  You shall seek them and not find them –those who contended with you. Those who war against you shall be as nothing, as a nonexistent thing. For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, ‘Fear not, I WILL HELP YOU.’ (vv.11-13).