“Hope” looks to the future, however, it is also a present experience. It has real benefits for life now.
 
Viktor Frankl was psychotherapist who survived the horrors of Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II. From his observations of fellow prisoners, he concluded that when facing extreme circumstances, people are forced to choose between despair and hope and that this is literally a life-or-death decision. Time and time again he saw people lose hope. Hope gave people a reason to live and without it, they died. Our circumstances are never likely to be as severe, but the principle remains true, choosing hope enables us to face the hardships of life in this world without being overwhelmed.
 
How does that work? In the bible, the Apostle Paul wrote, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18). He was comparing the presence and temporary duration of earthly hardship with the eternal and permanent freedom from suffering that exists in the presence of God. There is great power in being able to fit life events into a timeline that has the presence of God as its endpoint or goal. We can see each event as another step towards hope being fulfilled and we can endure a lot when we believe that the ultimate outcome is worth it.
 
The practical effect of choosing hope is patience. “But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently” (Romans 8:25). A word better might be patient endurance, or perseverance. I say that because I don’t think the word patience is strong enough. For many, patience simply means putting up with the irritations and inconveniences of life. But Romans 8 speaks about the life-threatening challenges experience by early Christians. What’s more, these were avoidable. There was a choice involved. Many of the difficulties these people faced came about because of their deliberate choice to make a stand for Jesus. If they had simply turned their backs and walked away, so would a number of their problems. They were under constant pressure to take the easy way out, but they refused. They chose hope.
 
This is our challenge as well. A number of the difficult things in our lives come about because being a Christian places demands on us. We can make those things go away very simply by denying Jesus, but to do so would be to turn our backs on our eternal future as well. Don’t do it! Choose hope, and let hope empower you.
 
Neil Percival