GOD OF HOPE
Michael Tan
The Covid-19 pandemic does not define us as much as reveal who we already are from the inside. Adversity and crisis surface our primal attitudes toward life. When we are faced with a prolonged period of uncertainty and danger, we reveal one of two basic attitudes – one of hope, the other of dread – one of trust, the other of fear – one of optimism, the other of gloom. And we often oscillate between them. We may swing helplessly like a pendulum set on overdrive.
Dread, fear and gloom loom inevitably over us when we are faced with an assault from many fronts – health, livelihoods, economy and geo-political tensions. No nation or people are spared in our intricately interconnected world today. We cannot unthinkingly follow people like the incumbent in the coming US presidential elections who outrightly deny science and reality, creating a distorted narrative to exploit others for his own gain. We must espouse hope, trust and optimism in a positive and responsible way.
There is a story of WC Fields who died with money in hundreds of bank accounts which were never located. He attributed his strange behavior of depositing money in the different cities he performed at to a recurrent and obsessive dream in which he saw himself stranded in a strange city without money or friends. So, wherever he went he opened a bank account and used fictitious names and kept no records whatsoever of his deposits. Unfortunately, he died without telling anyone else the locations of those accounts or the fictitious names in which they were held!
Some people live with such a feeling of dread and doom about their lives that they dismiss the possibility of joy. Even when life is being good to them, they just know that it cannot last.
Fortunately, this is not the Apostle Paul’s attitude to be sure. He too lived in a difficult world. He had experienced more than his share of sorrow and suffering. Yet Paul believed that lasting joy and peace were not only possibilities in life but would someday be permanent realities. That is why he asserts in Romans 15:13, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
During WWII, Hitler’s bombers were furiously and relentlessly attacking London. In order to safeguard children, trainloads of them were evacuated to the country. Somebody asked, “Where are you going?” One young boy thought for a minute and replied, “I don’t know, but the king (King George VI) knows.”
Many of us may be in the same situation today. We don’t know what the future holds, but King Jesus knows. This is His world. He is at work and in control. The Apostle John assures us in John 1:5 that even though we may be surrounded by darkness, we know there is a light shining in the darkness that the darkness cannot overcome.
What then is this attitude of hope? It is not merely hoping for the best and expecting the worst. Where there is genuine hope, that which we hope for is already present for us. What we hope for is at the same time here and not here. It is present in the now, it has already begun. Our hope is rooted in the reality of something already present in the returning King of kings and Lord of lords – His Resurrection and Life. Again, Paul exclaims in Romans 8:24, “For in this hope we were saved; but hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he can already see?”
You and I are free to choose the attitude with which we shall live in the midst of the global crisis. We can believe the prophets of doom and pundits of gloom or we can believe that God is alive and is in control of what may seemingly be uncontrollable. We can face the future with fear or we can trust in the God who has sustained us through the years and has promised us that He will never forget us nor forsake us regardless of our situation. We can choose to live in continued darkness, or we can step out into the light of hope and triumph and eternal victory. We can live for ourselves alone, or we can make the world a better place to live for others too. After all, our God is a God of Hope.
MINISTRY HIGHLIGHTS
Peter’s Ponderings Series 2
The second series of Peter’s Ponderings ministered to 45 people on average per session. This new ministry format of a 10-minute video presentation followed by Q&A session over Zoom has been well received and helped us to continue our ministry while practicing physical distancing measures. The 4 episodes that made the second series are:
Live Fearlessly – A reflection for uncertain times.
“All other fears pale in comparison to the fear of death … If what we ultimately fear is death, Christ’s Resurrection has abrogated death’s substance to a mere shadow.”
Commit Unreservedly – Making and keeping promises reflect God’s character, and bring fulfillment.
“Commitments are harbingers of hope for this life, and a foretaste of what eternal life in God’s presence will be.”
Share Confidently – Pointing to Jesus is natural and spontaneous. All it takes is courage.
“Only those who have drunk deep from the fountain of grace can find the compassion to exercise acts of kindness and the courage to declare the love of God in a sensitively relevant way.”
Refresh Meaningfully – How God can renew and restore in times of futility, fatigue and fear.
“We need physical refreshment if our spirits are to be recharged and our perspectives realigned to fresh realities.”
Watch the videos at Eagles Communications YouTube Channel.
NEXT CYCLE
Agonizing Questions, Astonishing Answers
This study in the Book of Habakkuk will address four fundamental human dilemmas:
Why is God silent? How long must I wait?
Why do the rightoeous also practice evil?
Why does God allow the wicked to triumph over the righteous?
Why does God use the wicked to execute His plans?
Join us and experience what it means that “the righteous must live by faith” no matter the circumstances.
Learn more at www.eagles.org.sg/er.
GOD OF HOPE
Michael Tan
The Covid-19 pandemic does not define us as much as reveal who we already are from the inside. Adversity and crisis surface our primal attitudes toward life. When we are faced with a prolonged period of uncertainty and danger, we reveal one of two basic attitudes – one of hope, the other of dread – one of trust, the other of fear – one of optimism, the other of gloom. And we often oscillate between them. We may swing helplessly like a pendulum set on overdrive.
Dread, fear and gloom loom inevitably over us when we are faced with an assault from many fronts – health, livelihoods, economy and geo-political tensions. No nation or people are spared in our intricately interconnected world today. We cannot unthinkingly follow people like the incumbent in the coming US presidential elections who outrightly deny science and reality, creating a distorted narrative to exploit others for his own gain. We must espouse hope, trust and optimism in a positive and responsible way.
There is a story of WC Fields who died with money in hundreds of bank accounts which were never located. He attributed his strange behavior of depositing money in the different cities he performed at to a recurrent and obsessive dream in which he saw himself stranded in a strange city without money or friends. So, wherever he went he opened a bank account and used fictitious names and kept no records whatsoever of his deposits. Unfortunately, he died without telling anyone else the locations of those accounts or the fictitious names in which they were held!
Some people live with such a feeling of dread and doom about their lives that they dismiss the possibility of joy. Even when life is being good to them, they just know that it cannot last.
Fortunately, this is not the Apostle Paul’s attitude to be sure. He too lived in a difficult world. He had experienced more than his share of sorrow and suffering. Yet Paul believed that lasting joy and peace were not only possibilities in life but would someday be permanent realities. That is why he asserts in Romans 15:13, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
During WWII, Hitler’s bombers were furiously and relentlessly attacking London. In order to safeguard children, trainloads of them were evacuated to the country. Somebody asked, “Where are you going?” One young boy thought for a minute and replied, “I don’t know, but the king (King George VI) knows.”
Many of us may be in the same situation today. We don’t know what the future holds, but King Jesus knows. This is His world. He is at work and in control. The Apostle John assures us in John 1:5 that even though we may be surrounded by darkness, we know there is a light shining in the darkness that the darkness cannot overcome.
What then is this attitude of hope? It is not merely hoping for the best and expecting the worst. Where there is genuine hope, that which we hope for is already present for us. What we hope for is at the same time here and not here. It is present in the now, it has already begun. Our hope is rooted in the reality of something already present in the returning King of kings and Lord of lords – His Resurrection and Life. Again, Paul exclaims in Romans 8:24, “For in this hope we were saved; but hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he can already see?”
You and I are free to choose the attitude with which we shall live in the midst of the global crisis. We can believe the prophets of doom and pundits of gloom or we can believe that God is alive and is in control of what may seemingly be uncontrollable. We can face the future with fear or we can trust in the God who has sustained us through the years and has promised us that He will never forget us nor forsake us regardless of our situation. We can choose to live in continued darkness, or we can step out into the light of hope and triumph and eternal victory. We can live for ourselves alone, or we can make the world a better place to live for others too. After all, our God is a God of Hope.
MINISTRY HIGHLIGHTS
Peter’s Ponderings Series 2
The second series of Peter’s Ponderings ministered to 45 people on average per session. This new ministry format of a 10-minute video presentation followed by Q&A session over Zoom has been well received and helped us to continue our ministry while practicing physical distancing measures. The 4 episodes that made the second series are:
Live Fearlessly – A reflection for uncertain times.
“All other fears pale in comparison to the fear of death … If what we ultimately fear is death, Christ’s Resurrection has abrogated death’s substance to a mere shadow.”
Commit Unreservedly – Making and keeping promises reflect God’s character, and bring fulfillment.
“Commitments are harbingers of hope for this life, and a foretaste of what eternal life in God’s presence will be.”
Share Confidently – Pointing to Jesus is natural and spontaneous. All it takes is courage.
“Only those who have drunk deep from the fountain of grace can find the compassion to exercise acts of kindness and the courage to declare the love of God in a sensitively relevant way.”
Refresh Meaningfully – How God can renew and restore in times of futility, fatigue and fear.
“We need physical refreshment if our spirits are to be recharged and our perspectives realigned to fresh realities.”
Watch the videos at Eagles Communications YouTube Channel.
MINISTRY HIGHLIGHTS
Agonizing Questions, Astonishing Answers
This study in the Book of Habakkuk will address four fundamental human dilemmas:
Why is God silent? How long must I wait?
Why do the rightoeous also practice evil?
Why does God allow the wicked to triumph over the righteous?
Why does God use the wicked to execute His plans?
Join us and experience what it means that “the righteous must live by faith” no matter the circumstances.
Learn more at www.eagles.org.sg/er.