Have you ever worked hard towards an outcome, piled in time and energy in the hope that progress could be made, and allowed yourself to hope that the situation has improved? And then has something happened that has brought it all crashing down and left you feeling angry or disappointed and just wanting to throw in the towel and give up? If not, you are a stronger person than I am. If this rings a bell with you, you may be able to appreciate sort of how I felt within the last week.
Alongside my day-jobs I have dedicated a large portion of my time, energy and prayer to working towards reconciliation in a particular setting. This week I was in a virtual meeting where what I experienced showed me that the progress I thought had been made was not firm. And it left me feeling very angry and disappointed, and lacking the energy to keep trying. I was angry at the people directly involved, I was angry at the people who had been watching from the side-lines along the way and choosing to remain distant, I was even angry at God who promises to answer our prayers. I wasn’t seeing evidence of that!
Sometimes the battles that we face that affect us deeply are huge, global issues. Sometimes they are small local issues, personal to a few. The one I’ve been talking about probably doesn’t have global repercussions. But it’s still something I have invested myself into. If somethings never change and somethings do nothing but change, how can we know where to trust or what to hope in?
Then I found a little tidbit of theological wisdom in a very random place. I watched Frozen 2. I won’t spoil the film for anyone who hasn’t seen it. I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised by the film and thought it was better than the first one. But from the start there is a slightly comic character development where Olaf is ‘maturing’ and considering what change means. And then there comes this wise line: I’ve just thought of one thing that’s permanent… Love!
If you are a bible scholar, you can track the love that God shows for his people throughout the bible. Abraham and his descendants were blessed in order to bless others. Jesus came and showed love to the people he met more than judgement. The book of Acts opens up the family of God to all peoples and races, not just Jews.
Throughout history, the Church has not always acted in love. Not all Christians have rooted their actions to show God’s love. But God’s love itself has not gone away. It has remained constant. My first known encounter with God was an outpouring of a Father’s love while I was alone and desperate and searching. It was like nothing I had ever felt before, like a flame had been lit in my heart and with it a sense of peace and belonging.
It’s easy to get sucked into the worries of everyday life. It is right to stand up against injustice where we see it. It’s even ok to get angry and disappointed. But through all of that, God’s love remains constant. For me, being reminded of that very first encounter also reminds me of why I continue to put my trust in God, and why I continue to have hope.
Yes, the disappointment hurts. No, I can’t explain why the situation didn’t go the way I thought it should. Sometimes all we can do is trust in God’s long-term plan. We are very used to seeing the immediate problems and not as good at being patient. Not many things we see are permanent. Some things change quickly, somethings change extremely slowly. Some things we would like to see change, somethings we would rather remained the same.
But there is this one things you can rely on, one thing that remains constant, one thing you can choose to build your life and your actions on: God loves his children. Including me.
Including you.
The Reason for my Hope Blog 