Hope

But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect. (Peter 1 3:15)

The world we live in is used to despair, to hopelessness, to trauma and disappointment. It is used to disease, to poverty, to distress and to every kind of decay and rottenness in humanity. The world is used to such things. What they are not used to is – HOPE.

As such, this is the thing that distinguishes Christians from the rest of the world. We have Jesus and because of him we have hope.

Needless to say, this hope leads to all kinds of strange, incomprehensible behavior. Because the world does not understand your hope, they will not understand your behavior. And because you are such a puzzle, they can either choose to:

1) Love you
2) Hate you

Why would they choose option 1? Simply because the most beautiful thing you can ever offer anyone is a sense of mystery. Also because you provide a platform of hope that no other in the world can provide. And it is so much easier to love you with the divine favour of Christ wrapped all around you.

Sadly, most people would choose option 2. It is in fact, the default option. People will automatically dislike people they do not understand. So perhaps the best options for hopies like us is to explain ourselves like Peter 1 3:15 says - Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.

When something bad happens, people will have to cope with an influx of helplessness, depression and hopelessness. To cope, they build up a wall of strength, feigned confidence, convincing themselves that they can solve any problem at hand. This positive mindset might work for a while but after awhile, they find themselves inevitably overwhelmed.

Instead of providing assistance to these overwhelmed people, the world can be harsh and indifference. Our victims of live move from being overwhelmed to becoming in a state of absolute shock. They are shocked by how harsh the world can be. To protect themselves, to grow (as the world believes), they harden their hearts and become unfeeling, unemotional, inhumane creatures.

Jesus replied, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.” (Luke 18:27)

This is where we differ. When men disappoint us, we still have hope. And this hope, the hope that comes from Jesus does not disappoint us. So, we are always happy because we have a God that is always above all our circumstances. Our God is so powerful that he could part the red sea. So whatever your circumstances today, God can fix it. And because of this hope, we do not have to worry or to harden our hearts.

Perhaps, as ambassadors of hope, you will have to suffer some persecution, but fear not, the path of the righteous shines brighter and brighter. When you put Jesus in the center of your life, everything else fades under his splendor and you are no longer so bothered by the small insignificant affairs of everyday life.

Rubrix Cube

Have you ever observed a person arranging a Rubix Cube? It is really a mystery for people like us who do not know any of the techniques involved in putting the colours back in place. But somehow, in the hands of a master, the entire process can look so graceful and intelligent.

Our lives are a lot like messed up Rubrix Cube. Sometimes we feel that life is going on the right track – THAT is precisely when our Rubrix cube is almost solved. There is only one tiny colour block out of place but we are more than happy to live with that imperfection. Suddenly, something unexpected happens and our lives are turned topsy turvy. We feel that we have strayed so far from perfection and all the colours are out of place.

Little do we know that in order for God to fix that one tiny out of place block, a major revamp must be put in place. As onlookers, we would marvel at how the experienced player would risk messing up the whole cube again just to put that tiny block in place. We might even imagine that he is simply messing it up to start all over again.

But just when we are about to give up, when everything looks bleak, the Rubrix master makes his final move and everything pops back into perfection. Everything is exactly where it should be.

Isn’t God wonderful? His plans we do not know. But what we must keep reminding ourselves is that if we fix our eyes on the natural, all we will ever see is a messed up lot of colours. But if we commit our lives to the Lord, be confident that this messed up Rubrix cube is in the process of achieving great things.