We are on the threshold of a new year. Everyone is getting ready for the greeting, “Happy New Year!” Yet, American author-teacher-preacher Francis Chan once described today’s Christians as terrible hopers at a Christian conference. He said, “We expect the worst because we’ve been let down too much.” Is it right for us to feel this way about hope—to lower our expectations so that we don’t get disappointed?
In the Bible, there was a man who did not fit the terrible hopers’ profile. His name: Simeon. Described to be as righteous and devout, “it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ” (Luke 2:26). Simeon was not given a date and time to expect the coming of Jesus; he only knew that death would not overcome him until its fulfillment. Knowing what aging does to us, the aches and pains of our failing bodies can make us terrible hopers—but not Simeon!
Joseph, Mary, and their child Jesus traveled to Jerusalem from Bethlehem to offer their sacrifice according to the Law after the completion of the purification process. “[Simeon] came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, [Simeon] took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,
‘Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,
according to your word;
for my eyes have seen your salvation
that you have prepared in the presence of all people,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles.
And for the glory to your people Israel’” (v. 27-32).
A Harvard Health article said, “…hope beyond the possible is a recipe for eventual disappointment and disillusionment.” This is the perfect statement for terrible hopers to cling to. Can you imagine waiting for something without an expected date of arrival? We want to spend our energy on hope that makes sense. Like Simeon, we are awaiting the return of Jesus Christ—and no one knows the time and day! We are only told “not to lose heart” (2 Corinthians 4:16).
Hope is meant to be a positive motivation for us, something to help us shape and determine a positive outcome as we visualize that moment of fulfillment. For Simeon, he embraced the promise of seeing the Messiah, Israel’s hope. Comforted by the Holy Spirit’s personal revelation to him, the promise gave Simeon a wonderful reason to live a life of quality, a life of hope. He was probably happier and healthier than the hopeless ones around him! Often, we begin to squander our lives on excess once we know how much time we have left on earth, thinking we can only enjoy our best days by following the “you only live once” mantra of the world.
Before Jesus went to the cross, He told His disciples, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” (John 14:1-3). After three years of togetherness, imagine how sad and brokenhearted His disciples must have been to hear of His departure. So, Jesus had to explain why they could have hope even when He was gone from their presence. He was helping them to grasp the fact that in knowing Him and seeing Him, they had already known and seen the Father. This is the same explanation we are embracing today—the promise of Jesus returning for you and me. There is nothing to doubt about Jesus’s words.
We can’t be terrible hopers as followers of Jesus Christ because whatever good stuff—or not-so-good stuff—we are experiencing in this life today will not compare to what awaits us in eternity. To further encourage the followers of Jesus Christ, the Apostle Peter even painted a beautiful picture of hopeful waiting, when he said we “have been born to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for [us], who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:3-5).
If then we have the living hope, Jesus Christ, His hope should influence us to be optimistic people. Jesus, our living hope, will make it possible for us to alter our minds and behaviors. Peter encourages us to “[prepare our] minds for action, and being sober-minded, [to] set [our] hope fully on the grace that will be brought to [us] at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (v.13). Again, we are to set our minds fully on this beautiful picture of grace, so that we can stop ourselves from becoming terrible hopers, waiting impatiently…and totally unprepared for the glory yet to come.
In the final chapter of the Book of Revelation, Jesus said these hopeful words several times: “Behold, I am coming soon…,” with a final and definitive statement meant to drive home the assurance we desperately need to hear: “Surely I am coming soon” (22:7, 12, 20). What’s important is to remember that Jesus stressed what we are to do in our hopeful waiting: 1) keep the words of the Bible, 2) keep living a righteous and holy life and, 3) remember that He will do a final accounting of our deeds.
Dupé Aleru, a Christian content coach, posted on her LinkedIn: “What God has in store is beyond your wildest imagination.” The Apostle Paul confirmed what is written about the coming glory revealed to us through the Spirit: “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9). If that is the case, followers of Jesus Christ should be excitedly preparing for something better, something beyond our wildest imagination that is to come! There is no reason for us to hold on to the label of terrible hopers.
Let’s welcome the New Year with gladness in our hearts knowing that Jesus Christ will be returning…soon!
Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/melis82
Luisa Collopy is an author, speaker and a women’s Bible study teacher. She also produces Mula sa Puso (From the Heart) in Tagalog (her heart language), released on FEBC Philippines stations. Luisa loves spending time with her family over meals and karaoke!