About Hope
We live during times or uncertainty and little clarity. On one hand we might be prone to go desperate and start panicking unnecessarily. This makes it harder to see a clear solution to the predicament and it doesn't help at all. On the other hand, we may be prompted to start giving false hope. A tragedy comes to mind.
The British ocean liner, the R.M.S. Lusitania, was struck by a torpedo from a German submarine on May 7, 1915. It appears that in an effort to minimize panic, the captain, William Thomas Turner, created a false sense of assurance. Shortly after the torpedo struck the liner, a fellow passenger, Charles Lauriat, heard a female passenger call out, "Captain, what do you wish us to do?" Author Erik Larson writes what he replied, "Stay right where you are, Madam, she's all right." The news spread around like a wild fire. Second-class passenger Henry Needham recalled that a passenger approaching from the direction of the bridge had shouted, "The Captain says the boat will not sink." “The remark," Needham wrote, "was greeted with cheers and I noticed many people who had been endeavoring to get a place in the boats, turned away in apparent contentment."
Tragically, of the 1,959 passengers aboard the Lusitania, 1,198 perished. I wonder how many more would not have perished if the captain would have given the passengers a clear assessment.
Likewise, we encounter situations ourselves, or witness the situations of our brothers and sisters, when things are not clear as to what is going on. Most times, the best that we can do is to pray and trust our Lord Jesus Christ and use His Word to encourage others. Placing our hope in Him and helping each other with His words is the best that we can do. True, we can use all tools at our disposal to encourage others but preferably in addition to God's Word. Also, being present with someone who needs us right there next to them is much needed. Giving false hope might actually hinder us or others from experiencing a blessing that God has intended for us all along.
Ephesians 4:15 comes to mind: "Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ." Paul teaching his young protégé Timothy the skill of pastoral work, in 1 Timothy 3:16 writes him: "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness." Yes, we can use anything to encourage each other but God’s Word is the most powerful tool that we have.
