Tag Archives: hope

Some need hope

2 Replies

Robin_WilliamsYou’ve probably heard that Robin Williams died. So many of us remember times when he made us laugh or cry or just stop and think. He was a talented actor, one of the funniest men I’ve ever seen.

Because of that success and that ability to make people laugh, we assumed Robin was happy. Even as we heard of him going through rehab, we had trouble not thinking of him with a smile on his face.

Then Robin took his own life, after suffering with depression for some time.

There are others around us, wearing a mask of smiles, covered by a mantle of success, that are suffering on the inside. Some of them sit down the pew from us at church.

Not all will take their lives. But many will want to.

May God grant us eyes to see these people. May he give us the words to remind them that they too bear the image of their creator. Their human self weighs them down, but that self can be transformed!

May we be bearers of hope.

Joey

2 Replies

Joey (2nd from left) with his parents and little brother

I guess it’s one of the biggest fears that parents have: losing one of their children. One woman who had suffered this several times in her life said to me: “Parents shouldn’t have to bury their children.”

My friends Bob and Sally Tamez will have to do that this week. Joey passed away on Friday. I’ve written before about Joey’s struggle with cancer and his deep faith in God. The entire family has leaned on God throughout this whole episode. In Joey’s last moments here on earth, family and friends were gathered around his bed “singing him to heaven,” as they deemed it.

There are still hard times ahead for Bob and Sally, as well as their kids: Casey, Tina and Timmy. I’m glad that they have the support of loving Christians. I know that God will comfort them. And I know that it will still hurt very deeply.

Please raise them up in prayer today, tomorrow when they have visitation at the funeral home and Wednesday when they will have the funeral. Should you wish to send them a note of encouragement, I can send you their address privately.

We cling to the promise: “I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.” (Revelation 1:18)

Joey will live again.

The Power of Hope

Leave a reply

[I’ll be away from the Internet for a few days, so I’ll share with you some of the articles I’ve written for Heartlight magazine. These articles also ran on theHopeForLife.org website, which is a ministry of Herald of Truth.]

There’s a story that tells of a woman who volunteered with the school district in a large city. Specifically, she was helping tutor children who were forced to miss school due to illness. One day she was given a name and a hospital room number, with this written instruction from the teacher: “We’re studying nouns and adverbs in his class now, and I’d be grateful if you could help him understand them so he doesn’t fall too far behind.”
When the woman arrived at the hospital room, she found a young boy who had been badly burned that was lying in great pain in the bed. Overwhelmed by the sight of this boy, all she could do was blurt out, “I’ve been sent by your school to help you with nouns and adverbs.” After working with the child for a time, she left feeling foolish. What good were grammar lessons to a boy in his condition?

However, her visit had a tremendous impact on the boy. Before seeing the tutor, the boy had been slowly deteriorating. After her visit, he seemed to find his will to live, working with therapists, eating meals, responding to treatments. Later the boy explained, “I had just about given up, assuming I was going to die. But when this teacher came, I realized that I was going to be all right. They wouldn’t send someone to work on nouns and adverbs with a dying boy, would they?” What this woman shared about grammar was of relative benefit to the boy. But the hope that she brought to his life made all the difference. It saved his life.

Is the story true? I don’t know. Is the lesson true? Without a doubt. Hope is a powerful thing, giving us strength at times when nothing else can. They say that as the famous atheist Jean-Paul Sartre drew close to his death, he fought against despair, insisting that he would die in hope. But he also acknowledged, “Hope needs a foundation.”

God provides hope. He is the perfect foundation for our hope, the one that will never fail. Hope built on God and His promises need never fail. I am convinced that this hope, more than any other, can change lives and provide a sense of meaning in this world. The prophet Isaiah wrote: “Those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint” (Isaiah 40:31). Almost three thousand years later, it’s still true.

Cries in the Dark

Leave a reply

[While we’re traveling in Argentina, I thought I’d post some of the things that I’ve written for the HopeForLife.org blog; they’ve also been posted to Heartlight. Comments are moderated until I get back; sorry about that folks. Some people don’t know how to play nice.]

The cries were faint, barely audible in the early morning air. There was no air conditioning in our cabin at the youth camp, so we had all the windows open. One of my friends heard the sound about the same time that I did. We bounded out of bed, threw on some clothes and went running toward the sound.

One of the adults that was there that week caught us as we headed out. “Whoa!” he said. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“Someone’s crying for help.”

“Yes, I know,” he replied. “The river has flooded. There isn’t anything we can do for them right now.”

Those cries still haunt me when I think back on that moment. Thankfully, I can tell you that all of the people that were still alive at that time were rescued by our camp staff. Eight people had already lost their lives, though. As the counselor told us, there was nothing we could do for them.

I hear similar cries almost every day, cries for help, cries for rescue. The man who moved to another country with his wife, only to find himself all alone when she died suddenly. The woman who wants to stop the improper relationship she has with her boss. The mother whose children have scorned her love and abandoned their home. The man who says, “I’ve been so bad; can God ever take me back?” They cry out for deliverance. Their voices echo in the night.

In a very real sense, there’s nothing I can do for them, either. At least not me personally. But I know a God who does come to the rescue, who offers hope to the hopeless. He can do something. Because of him, I can write back to these people and say, “There is a way out.”

If you haven’t watched the videos at HopeForLife.org, I want to encourage you to do so. The videos tell of people who were rescued. Look around on the site, reading the articles there. The next time you hear someone crying out for spiritual rescue, send them there. Not to find the people who are on the site. Not to place their hope in us. Send them there to find rescue. From the God who cared enough to send his Son to die, that others could live a life of hope.

There is something I can do for those that cry out in the dark. I can point them to the God who rescues.

www.hopeforlife.org

Copyright Herald of Truth ministries