Hold Onto Hope: Don’t Give Up

If there is one thing in common with everyone around the world right now, it’s that we all need a little bit of hope. Our world has certainly seen a lot of tragedy over the decades. But with most tragedies we can see the light much sooner. We know that we have to endure a few days or weeks of grief and fear, but then we move on with life and go right back to where we were before the crisis occurred. So what do we do? What do we need right now? We need hope. 

I am writing this because there is hope. I know, it’s very difficult to see that right now. When you turn on the news it’s negative, when you hop onto social media all you see are articles and statistics of how bad this will be. I do believe that information is important and crucial in a time like this, but over the last 2 weeks I have realized that our world is run on fear. 

I have seen so much fear on social media, in the news, in conversation with others, it’s everywhere. The only articles and news reports I see online are full of fear or trying to invoke some type of fear. It’s as if we aren’t allowed to have hope in a crisis. I just won’t accept that.

Fear doesn’t move us to action. Oh sure, you could make an argument that it does. But fear does not move us towards positive and beneficial action. It causes us to be reckless and short sighted. Fear makes us do things without thinking of others and it puts ourselves first. Fear is a thief and a liar. It steals our joy and the hope we have.

There are still a lot of people out there who are not following social distancing guidelines. We keep trying to “scare” those people into following the guidelines. Yet, here we are each day, seeing more photos and videos of large gatherings that are still taking places in cities and on beaches. Why haven’t our tactics worked? Because the people who aren’t listening aren’t going to respond to fear. The only thing those tactics do is make people who are already following social distancing guidelines become more fearful. 

Now if I were you and I were reading this post, I would be thinking to myself, “but Josh, this is a pandemic, so many people are dying, hospitals are overrun, how can you not be talking about that stuff? These people need to be shown just how horrible this is!” I get it. I’ve had that mindset. TRUST me, I’ve read plenty of things on social media and in the news about everything going on. I’m very well versed in what’s happening. 

But how will constantly engrossing yourself in all of this information help YOUR current situation? If there are legitimate benefits, then by all means, keep diving into every twitter post, trending topic, news article, and news conference. But if you’re social distancing and playing your part, I would beg the question, how much consumption is too much? Unless we personally know people who are not following the social distancing guidelines, there is not much we can do. I believe the best solution to that is personal accountability, so if you do know someone not listening, then speak with them and have a conversation. We don’t need more celebrities sharing videos telling people to stay home, we need more friends holding each other accountable. 

I understand we still have a long way to go. But there have been moments the past few days where I could not help but be hopeful. I could not help but think about the days where restrictions are slowly let up and we get to interact in person. 

Did you see the photos and videos of the USNS Comfort Ship arriving in New York? Honestly, I got chills watching that thinking about the huge help it is going to be. It was like a real life moment when all of the heroes returned in the final Avengers movie. Help has finally arrived. But then I saw an article talking about how the USNS Comfort wasn’t going to relieve the hospitals enough. Maybe it won’t solve the entire pandemic. But just maybe it gives us all a little bit of hope that we can hold onto. 

There are so many other great stories that you can find through this crisis that can give you glimpses of hope. Hold onto that. Don’t let fear steal your hope like the thief that it is. All of this will come to an end. There is hope in that. We will grieve and mourn those that we lose during this time, and we will remember them afterwards. But know that this crisis is not lasting forever. 

A couple of weeks ago I gave a sermon in my church about the fear the disciples felt when Jesus was arrested and crucified. For the past few days I keep being reminded and thinking about how they must have truly felt. I mean, they put ALL of their hope into this guy. They gave up everything; their family, friends, their livelihood. Then just like that, he was gone. And they were probably fearful for their own lives too. They had entered into this season of a complete unknown. 

If I were them I would have no idea what to do. They were following this guy for 3 years, He kept telling them about how He was going to restore the kingdom (they still didn’t understand He wasn’t talking about what they thought He was). The hope that they had was gone to them; dead and in a tomb. 

Little did they know that just 3 days later, their hope would return. Their hope was never actually gone though, that was all a part of the process. And our hope is not gone either. No matter what is going on in the world, there is hope. There is hope that you can hold onto. 

That is my plea to you. Hold onto hope. Don’t let the news, the politics, social media, or anything else get to you and place fear in your life. My ultimate hope is in Jesus. His love is perfect and 1 John 4:18 tells us that there is no fear in perfect love because perfect love casts out fear. 

I have been reading less and less news surrounding this pandemic, let me encourage you to do the same. My anxiety had been running on high for a while. The less I started to read the more hopeful I became. I promise if you’re feeling the same anxiety I was feeling, lowering the volume of everything going on around social media and the news will help you too. 

I’m going to say this one last time, there is hope. Hold onto that hope. We will get through this. We will make it through and be stronger than ever. Fear has no place in your life. Hope will carry you through these times. Please know that if you need someone to reach out to and talk through anxiety or fear that you have been feeling I am happy to talk. If you’ve been depressed because of isolation I am happy to chat. Be encouraged to reach out to a counselor as well. So many are still doing online sessions. You are not alone. 

I am reminded in these times of the bridge in one of my favorite worship songs titled, “Waymaker.” 

“Even when I don’t see it you’re working. Even when I can’t feel it You’re working.” 

God is working, even in the midst of one of the darkest times of our generation. 

Hold. Onto. Hope.