Keep Hope Alive
Quiet your heart in his presence and pray;
keep hope alive as you long for God to come through for you.
– Psalm 37:7
I think, in the past, I’ve underestimated and undervalued hope. But in this present season I’ve definitely realised how important hope is, and how it can help us get through more challenging times with a positive attitude. Especially in dark times, hope can become a powerful weapon.
‘Hope is like the sun. If you only believe in it when you see it, you’ ll never make it through the night.’
– Leia Organa
Recently I rewatched The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, which is all about four children, the Pevensie children, who find the magical world of Narnia in the upstairs wardrobe. Narnia is covered in snow – it has been winter for a hundred years – but the Pevensie children bring hope and warmth with them. The White Witch’s spell begins to break and spring returns. The flowers bloom again, the ice and snow melts, and hope is reawakened in all the inhabitants of Narnia. That hope is what ultimately helps them overcome the White Witch and restore peace and life to Narnia.
I believe we in the same way can be hope-bringers. Warmth-bringers. No matter how dense the darkness seems around us, we can be light, for we have the light on the inside of us. But to bring hope to others we have to guard that hope inside of ourselves. We have to feed it and keep it alive.
One way I like to keep my hope alive is remembering all the good, inspiring stories and testimonies I’ve heard. Stories of miracles, of dreams coming true, of things working out perfectly in the end. Instead of looking at the darkness, or the fear, or the news, I want to feed myself on those uplifting, joy-bringing, hope-inspiring things.
And I cannot say it any better than Samwise Gamgee….
Sam: I know. It’s all wrong. By rights we shouldn’t even be here. But we are. It’s like in the great stories Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were, and sometimes you didn’t want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy. How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad happened. But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer.
Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something. Even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back only they didn’t. Because they were holding on to something.
Frodo: What are we holding on to, Sam?
Sam: There’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it’s worth fighting for.