Inauguration Time!

January 21, 2021

Inauguration Time!

I read the local newspaper yesterday morning and was left wondering; “Where do I look for hope on Inauguration Day?”

I read one article that claims our hope is in a particular person(s).  I read another article that argues our hope is in not lying.  I read another article that asserts our hope is in laughing more.  I read another article that maintains our hope is in redefining the role of vice-president. 

I read another article that declares our hope is in every person wearing a face mask.  I read another article that states our hope is the absence of a particular person(s).  I read another article that proclaims our hope is in more National Guard, Law Enforcement, and FBI personnel stationed in certain places.      

If you do not like any of these options for hope, there are plenty of other possibilities being touted, too.  These promises of hope were from just one issue of a small town newspaper.  To be fair, almost all of these articles were not generated by people who live in our community. 

The mainstream rhetoric is clearly optimistic; “There is hope!”  The problem is that there is no agreement about the source of this hope.  Furthermore, there is no mention in any of these articles of a higher power being the source of hope. 

Each one of these promises of hope is based on people.  People who are smart, people who have a sense of humor, people who are honest, people who are networked, people who understand science, people who want something better, people who understand political systems. 

Don’t get me wrong; I believe in people, I love people, and I have been blessed my people.  However, when things are difficult, when disappointment is more of a season than a moment, and defeat feels real, I tend to look someplace else for hope.

God’s people had been exiled for over 70 years.  They had been carted away to another country, separated from family and friends, left behind homes and businesses, and were separated from their place of worship.  As the older generation passed, hope diminished.  Then, the next generation began to pass.  Hope grew smaller and smaller because relying only on one another failed to maintain any lasting hope.

The Lord God enters the picture and makes a promise that a future with hope is found in the Lord God.  In Jeremiah 29:11-14 we hear God’s promise of hope; “For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.  Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you.  When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart, I will let you find me, says the Lord…”        

Our future and our hope are found in the Lord God.  It has always been this way and it will always be this way.  No matter what false hope is being offered to us, it is important to know and trust the Lord God who gives us a future and a hope, who listens when we pray, and who draws near to us when we seek Him.

I pray often for our nation and its leaders.  But, I choose to believe our hope is in Jesus.  Others can believe our hope is in laughing more or not lying.  Others can believe our hope is in the presence of this person or the absence of that person.  Others can believe our hope is in redefining this role or strengthening this presence.

I just don’t believe all those things make all that much difference.  For the most part, we will continue down the same path; there will just be different voices telling us where to find hope.  But, there will be no real, lasting hope coming from these people or the things their promise to do. 

It is interesting that in the mainstream’s rhetoric of hope there is no mention of faith, spirituality, or the Lord God.  This total and obvious absence is why I choose to not look to these options for any real hope.  I don’t believe that by relying only on ourselves, human beings are going to bring much hope to our world. 

Hope flows out of a growing relationship with the Lord God who we know in Jesus.  Note that I said, “growing relationship.”  The importance of a growing relationship with the Lord God for nurturing our hope is found in the Psalms.  In Psalm 25:4-5 we hear; “Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths.  Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long.”

I like the Psalmist’s prayer.  To know the Lord’s ways, to follow the Lord’s paths, to seek the Lord’s truth, to receive the Lord’s teaching, to experience the Lord’s saving grace, and to wait on the Lord all day long bring love and joy and peace to life. 

These are the things that fill me with real and lasting hope.  As these things grow in my heart and mind and soul, I express my delight to the Lord.  Let’s seek the source of real hope; Jesus the Christ!

Take Delight In The Lord!

Doug