Friday, September 8, 2017

A Lens of Hope

Harvey and Irma are some important names in the news right now. Weather bringing devastation to Houston, more weather heading toward toward Florida, and news of destruction widespread enough to pierce the 'college bubble' at Evangel University and bring a chapel full of students together in prayer for friends and strangers halfway across the country. Its a tragedy and a crisis.

At the same time across the world, it's estimated that one in every eight people is severely undernourished. Approximately 30 million people are trapped in slavery. Women across the world are still fighting for rights, children in Haiti are still starving, and in North Korea people are dying in modern day concentration camps.

If you skimmed past that paragraph, I don't blame you. It's heavy. Which is why I'll warn you; today's post starts out a little dark. It's not going to all be pleasant to read. It's kind of like the reason we don't like to watch the news - its not a very uplifting activity in today's world. Maybe that's why millennials today are often condemned for not staying up to date on current events. Some blame laziness for this trend; others blame media distrust or disinterest. While these may contribute, underneath it all remains a layer of hopelessness.

Because, honestly, it's just too much.

How is someone - specifically, a young college student - supposed to look at the starvation and slavery statistics above and process and respond to them? How is a person supposed to function normally with the knowledge that children around the world are dying with every minute that passes?

If you find out, tell me. Because I really don't know. But I think I know what we're not supposed to do, and that's what I want to tackle in this post.

The easiest response to pain and suffering in the world is the one that I think most of us have chosen. Oblivion. It's just easier not to think about it. I don't think that this response comes from a place of selfishness or not caring. I think it comes from people who are overwhelmed with a feeling of grief and responsibility that they don't know how to handle. I believe that most of the perceived 'lack of caring' we see today is simply lost hope disguising itself as apathy.

It does seem hopeless after a while, doesn't it? Sometimes, it seems like nothing is changing. We start out on our Christian journey feeling empowered and energized, praying over martyrs and lost people groups and injustices. We believe in the Lord's power to change the world. But after a while, it doesn't seem to be making much of a dent. I'm pretty sure Christians aren't 'supposed' to say that...but I also don't think I'm the only one who has felt this way.

Its in these times where faith that goes beyond feeling and seeing comes in.That's easier said than done. Honestly, I'm still learning how to build this kind of faith. I'll be the first to admit...I don't know everything. But I know that I don't want to be someone who turns a blind eye to a hurting world. I don't want to be someone who's trapped in hopelessness. Here's how I'm learning to respond to the darkness as someone who is living in the light.

Don't keep your world small. I really hate to tell you this, but ignoring problems is not making them go away. Unfortunately, it's just so, so easy. In America today, we can go about our days in blissful oblivion. In our little world, it seems like most things are okay. We can live in that bubble for a while.

But, there are millions of people around the world who can't ignore injustice; because they're living in the reality of it. And, not to scare you...but our 'America bubble' is being poked and prodded as well. I promise, plenty of trouble exists even within our red, white, and blue borders...and it's getting closer and closer to home.

Don't keep your world tiny in an attempt to ignore the problem. Even if you try, you won't be able to block out all the issues forever. I realize that looking up from your own life to the needs around you can seem like too much and threaten to drown you in hopelessness, but it doesn't have to. Here's how.

Change your lenses. As mentioned above, it's not helping to look away from a hurting world. But, it is helpful to change the way you look at it. The world views pain through a lens of passiveness. This is the way the world is. It's not going to change. My efforts are futile, there is no purpose.

But we as Christians have been given a different lens to look at the world. We get to see the world through the eyes of Jesus. And Jesus looks through a lens of love and hope and promise. Even when we don't know what to do as so much evil happens around us, we can know that there is justice and redemption coming. Amen?

When looked at with the human eye, the pain around us seems debilitating. When looked at through through heavenly glasses, in the midst of the pain we see hope. And it is that hope that steers our response.

Pray. In case you haven't noticed, us humans? We like to do things. Fix things. And when there are things too big for us to fix, we lose hope really quickly. Sometimes, we check out because we don't see any way that we could help. But there is always, always, something we can do.

Prayer seems to be considered a passive response today. When we can't do anything else, we pray. But listen to Psalm 107:28-29: "Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed."

That kind of prayer doesn't seem passive. That kind of prayer seems to shake the sky and move the waters. That kind of prayer has power.

We need to be a praying church. This world has a lot of heartbreak, and choosing to hope and believe in the plan of God might seem to bring on a lot more opportunity for...even more disappointment and heartbreak. But we have enough trust to take a strong stand; a Psalm 107 stand.

When pain and fear seem overwhelming, pray boldly and fearlessly. He's calmed the waves before...but he's also held children on His lap. The Lord's heart is breaking just as much as yours. The things that bring tears to your eyes are also bringing tears to the God that is both powerful and loving. Believe in His promises and believe in His love. Keep your eyes open, but look through His lenses. They're tinted with hope.