Do you have hope?

This is the third article in my series on depression and suicide written for the Oakland Independent newspaper in July 2018

If you grew up going to a church that sang hymns, you probably know that many of the hymns end with a picture of heaven. "Amazing Grace" says, "When we've been there ten thousand years bright shining as the sun, we've no less days to sing God's praise than when we'd first begun." "How Great Thou Art" ends with "When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation

And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart." When I minister at Oakland Heights, I always make sure to sing these last verses, because for most of the people in the service, heaven is becoming more and more real as their earthly life winds down, and those visions of heaven can bring hope and joy even when struggling with pain, grief, and loss of purpose on this earth.

Many people in the modern world do not have this hope. If you do not believe in God or are not sure if there is a God you cannot have this hope. If you think that maybe there is heaven after death, but that your place in heaven depends upon how good you are, then you can never be sure that you are good enough, so it is hard to have a sure hope.

Now when you are young, active, attractive, healthy, wealthy, in a great relationship, and things are going well, you probably are not worried about hope for the future because your present is fulfilling. But this present moment will not last. Trouble comes to us all. We get old and slow. Markets crash and people leave us or die. Pain, grief, loneliness or guilt sets in and can lead to full depression, and often when we are in the depths of despair there does not seem to be any hope for a better future. When things seem to have gone bad, we can begin to believe that it will never get better and give up on life.

Now the truth is that for most people in most circumstances, they can find help and still experience good things in this life. We can change our perspective, get some counseling, find good friends in church or other social organizations, ask forgiveness and restore relationships, start exercising, and do any number of things that bring us happiness again. On the other hand, if we have been hurt enough, even taking positive steps toward re-engaging the world may seem scary because what if we just lose everything again.

Here is where the Christian gospel helps me to have a new perspective that no circumstance can take away. 1 Peter 1:3-4 says, "He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you." I have a living hope for a good eternal future, not because of my own works, but because of what Jesus did for me. By receiving the gift of salvation from Jesus, my sins are forgiven and His resurrection proves that I will be raised to be with Him in heaven.

This hope does not just help me when thinking about eternal life, but even in the middle of the day to day struggles, I can know that no matter what, I still have a good future, so I can endure hardships for this short life. The Apostle Paul when talking about enduring, declared that "he could do all things through Christ who strengthens him" (Philippians 4:13). This was possible because he believed that "to live is Christ, but to die is gain" (Philippians 1:21).

God gave him a hope that pulled him through incredible persecution, and He will give you hope too if you will come to Him and put your trust in Jesus. So if you are feeling hopeless today, I encourage to read about Jesus in the gospels and read the books of 1 Peter and Philippians. There you will learn about a hope that no circumstances on this earth can take away.