hope is not a wish

03 - 12/24 /11:00

Distraught voters have been posting videos of themselves expressing how they have lost hope in America. In what do you put your hope?

Real hope is a belief, not opinion. Authentic hope is conviction—total trust. Genuine hope is commitment—live it, act on it.

Currently in Hong Kong the publisher of Next Digital and Apple Daily is on trial. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) accuses Jimmy Lai of colluding with foreign forces.

1997 Jimmy Lai converted to Christianity. Christianity is not against the law in Hong Kong. Not yet. Outspoken opposition to tyranny is what landed Jimmy Lai in Stanley Prison. He freely accepted prison because his faith insists upon liberty for all. Reuters reported that Jimmy Lai told the Court, “Truth prevails in God’s kingdom, and that’s good enough for me.”

Many are baffled that a man worth millions, who might have fled to one of his homes in Tokyo or Paris, would exchange that for prison. Jimmy Lai’s Catholic godfather reports that in prison Jimmy radiates peace. And that he has a message for CCP: Forgiveness is available via Jesus Christ.

Alexei Navalny, Russian dissident and civil rights lawyer, became an anti-corruption politician. Navalny was Putin’s most prominent opponent until he mysteriously died in prison this year.

2020 Navalny miraculously survived being poisoned with Novichok—a Russian nerve agent. January 2021 he boarded a flight to return to Russia knowing he would be arrested. Friends and Western politicians pleaded with Navalny not to go back to Russia.

At the conclusion of his Russian trial, Navalny testified “I am a Christian. That helps me a lot in my activities. There is a Book in which it is more or less clearly written what action to take in every situation. It’s not always easy to follow this Book, but I am actually trying.

“‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.’ This is more or less an instruction to be active. And so, while certainly not really enjoying the place where I am, I have no regrets about coming back to Russia. Because at some difficult moment I did as required; I did not betray the Book. I feel a kind of satisfaction.”

1,900 years ago the apostle Paul told church leaders, “You know I served the Lord in the midst of plots by my Jewish opponents. I have declared that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.

“Now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem. In every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships await. However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—testifying to the good news of God’s grace.”

The church leaders pleaded with Paul not to return to Jerusalem. He responded, “I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

The Psalmist sang, “Why, my soul, are you downcast? Put your hope in God.”

Human tyrants, big and small, put their hope in their place in this world. Jimmy Lai accepted prison and took a stand for human liberty, compelled by his Christian hope in the kingdom of heaven. Alexi Navalny accepted prison and confronted corruption, compelled by his Christian hope in the kingdom of heaven. The apostle Paul accepted prison and proclaimed the Gospel, compelled by his Christian hope in the kingdom of heaven.

Each experienced out-of-this-world-hope by doing the work God called them to. In that work they found a hope this world cannot give, a hope no one can take away. ~

Blessings,
Dan Nygaard