Earthly things will never give you hope that ultimately satisfies. Jesus is the ultimate and only source of hope!
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada, and I literally live on hope.
Part of it’s because I am just older. I am on the downside and heaven is a lot closer on my horizon than it was even ten years ago. And you know, for the longest time I thought of hope as a “thing,” for lack of a better word. It was like an experience; something I felt, like, I hope my disability doesn’t get worse, or I hope I have enough caregiving help in the years to come. I hope my husband Ken – in his mid-70s – stays healthy, or I hope I don’t get a pressure sore and have to lie in bed for weeks. These desires prove how much my life is shaped by hope. ’Cause we’re all searching for hope that will not disappoint us but will deliver what’s important to us, when we feel we need it. We want the kind of hope that’ll provide peace of mind; hope that’ll get us through some difficulty or disappointment; hope that won’t leave us hopeless in the end.
Well, over the years, I’ve learned I cannot depend on my circumstances or my disability or even my husband to give me hope that ultimately satisfies. It’s just not going to happen. People and circumstances and, yes, a significant disability will always disappoint. They simply won’t deliver what our hearts are longing for. It’s why I love Romans 5, for “we glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces [get this] perseverance… character; and character [produces] hope. And hope does not disappoint us.” Oh, friend, all these years in my wheelchair have honed a genuine hope that’s simply fixed on Jesus, my blessed Hope. I can glory in my sufferings because they have produced the kind of perseverance and character that recognizes Christ as the ultimate and only source of hope!
Paul David Tripp puts it this way; he says, “Romans chapter 5 talks about a hope that won’t disappoint you even in times of suffering… Sturdy hope that does not vanish with the constant changes in situations, locations, and relationships. Hope that simply will never, ever disappoint us can [only] be found in… one place. It is not to be found in a certain thing. It is, in fact, a person, Jesus. Whether you have realized it or not, he is what your hoping heart has been searching for, because what you’ve really been searching for is life, real heart-changing, heart-satisfying life – life to the fullest, life abundant. Situations can make your life easier, but they [cannot] give you life. True lasting hope is never found horizontally. It’s only ever found vertically at the feet of the Messiah, the One who is hope.”
Man, I love the way Paul David Tripp puts that. And I thank the Lord that my years of hardship in this wheelchair have produced perseverance and the kind of character that is happy to be anchored in my Life, my Jesus. And so, I say to my heart, do not wander away from your blessed hope. Set your face like flint and fix your eyes on your Savior, the only one who can satisfy you, Joni, the only one who gives life abundant, even if my disability gets worse, even if I get a pressure sore and must lie in bed, even if my husband does lose his health, even if a caregiver doesn’t show up. I have got hope.
You know, this radio program is all about sharing hope in your hardship, and I trust that these hope-filled words today remind you where to anchor your heart. Let your suffering produce the kind of character that’s convinced beyond a doubt that Jesus is your hope – your blessed hope.
© Joni and Friends