Hope’s Unceasing Power

Since moving on from my litany of Christmas shows, I’ve reached for two movies long on my watch-list; Jesus Revolution and The Shift did not disappoint. For days after watching each, my mind would replay scenes and dialogue with pleasure and deep pondering because these movies uncover humanity’s deepest fears and reveal God’s presence and purposes. And through it all, I saw hope doing its beautiful dance in the lives of the protagonists. 

Kevin, in The Shift, lost all hope after his young son was taken, lost forever, and his marriage fell apart in the aftermath. But one thing he held onto through all the challenges and the seeming absence of God was his faith. Over and over, Kevin chose ‘hope’ when I, and everyone else in the room, felt despair’s attempt to convince him to give up. I nearly cheered aloud when Kevin, who at long last found a family of believers in a world where no faith existed, was handed a child’s drawing of ‘hope’ – the empty tomb. 

Even now, I get a lump in my throat. What a beautiful depiction of hope in a hopeless world. What a symbol of the kind of hope only Jesus can offer.

Greg, in Jesus Revolution, thought he’d finally found what he’d been looking for when he met Jesus – family, belonging, security. But as key people in his life continued to fall away, cynicism took over, pushing him toward destructive habits. Walls went up. Doubt in God took over. Repeatedly, he’d shout that he knew he’d be abandoned (again). At his lowest, he held steady. His tentative step toward what he loved led Him right back into the arms of Jesus. He finally understood that by placing his hope in people or even himself, disappointment would always result – because only God can stand up under the weight of our hope. Only God can take our feeble saplings of hope and grow them into mighty oaks.

These movies brought to mind so many of the truths 2023 taught me, so many facets of what hope-in-God looks like. They’ve affirmed everything I’ve been doing and seeing and feeling. They’ve bolstered my desire to keep placing my hope in God because He never, ever fails.

The Strength of Hope

While ‘hope’ was my word of the year, Isaiah 40:28-31 was my Word. I memorized those verses, planting them in my heart, hearing Isaiah’s incredulous voice speaking to my own despair and cynicism:

Do you not know?
    Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
    the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
    and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
    and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
    and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the Lord
    will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
    they will run and not grow weary,
    they will walk and not faint.

Isaiah 40:28-31, NIV

On a particularly dark day of last year’s long winter, I collapsed before the Lord, crying out for help in keeping my hope in Him alive. I could see people, who should have been leaders for His flock, failing. I witnessed division among people I loved. I felt every slight and slam my friends took – when I couldn’t be there for them. On the verge of an ugly spiral, I feverishly prayed. Suddenly, the Word within me broke through the darkness and burst into the light: those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.

Over and over I said those words aloud. My tears’ source shifted from doubt to faith, from despair to true hope. In my weakness, I was strengthened – because I was learning to put my hope in the Lord!

But God wasn’t done! In the fervor of the moment, I texted that verse – no other words, just that verse in triplicate – to a dear friend in the same situation. The reply – “LITERALLY JUST quoted that to some of our staff.” 

What shock! What awe! My tears shifted to heaving sobs as realization sank in – God’s Spirit was moving, speaking, doing a mighty work. And not only in me but in others who were seeking Him and choosing to put their hope in Him. 

It’s my prayer that I’ll never lose that memory or the wonder of that moment because my deep knowing of God’s presence and goodness absolutely anchored my hope in Him. My body, mind, and spirit were strengthened in ways I’d never experienced – all because I chose to hope in God.

Not Hidden

More recently I’ve been scouring Scripture for all the uses of my 2024 word of the year, hidden. A little more than halfway through tabbing each verse that contains ‘hidden’ in my Bible, I lost my breath when I read Isaiah 40:27 – the verse preceding my Word of 2023. In it, Isaiah speaks words of comfort to the exiled people of God who feel as though God abandoned them:

Why do you say…my way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God?
Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God…

Full stop. 

For all the times I’ve read Isaiah 40, I never caught on to the way despair caused those in exile to believe God didn’t see them. They felt hidden from Him. Unseen. Unwanted. Uncared for.

Like Kevin. And Greg. Like every human ever.

But the truth that trumps every temptation to believe that God does not see us or want us is that He. Is. God. He’s omnipresent. He’s omniscient. 

And He gives everyone who chooses to put their hope in Him strength to keep going, to keep moving forward in faith. So, if you find yourself in a season where you feel hidden from God, lean into all that we’ve learned about hope this year. Remember that: 

• Hope in Christ is our anchor – we remain in Him so that we’re not tossed about by the waves of life. 
• Hope is assured – we can be confident in it – because God never leaves us and always keeps His promises. 
• Hope is eternal because our eternity is guaranteed to be a perfect life in the presence of God. And living from such a hope increases our faith and love today!
• Hope is Jesus.

Isn’t it just like God to be so good as to meet me in the steady, obedient, albeit tedious, work of exploring His Word with sticky tabs – and in such a way that the connection between ‘hope’ and ‘hidden’ is established at the very place where I’d spent so much of the past year? In doing so, He has affirmed what I’ve hoped is the way I should go this year – with resounding assurance that feels beautifully over the top to me.

Moving Forward

I love that you’re here with me for this explosive reminder that God is in this work we’re doing here. Every week He is making a way for us to keep growing as we seek to go deeper in Christ. He is honoring our obedience and faithfulness with His glorious work of joy in us. He’s demonstrating that He is, indeed, with us. 

Even when it doesn’t seem true, God is near. And, He longs for us to look to Him full of hope for who He is and what He’s capable of. He’s asking us to break down the walls, to step away from cynical thoughts, and to stick to the path He’s laid before us – especially when we don’t understand it or know where it’s leading or even feel like following it. In fact, if we’ve learned anything this year it’s the power of choosing Him in the middle of our storms and deserts and deep, dark valleys. 

With Him, we have a way to keep moving forward.
With Him, we have strength.
Because in Him, we have hope.

Thank you for your trust in this walk we’ve been on with Christ this past year. It’s my sincerest hope that you’ll continue this path with me as we carry all the truths of ‘hope’ with us as we venture into a new, and quite mysterious, exploration of ‘hidden.’ It is with the greatest humility that I reach for your hand in solidarity – because together we can hang onto hope’s unceasing power in Christ. 

Friends, in the dailiness of choosing to root ourselves in Him, we’ll discover we can flourish for Him.

Father God, how faithful You are. No matter what we face or feel, You are with us. You go before us; You walk beside us; You hem us in from behind. In your generosity, You pour out your love and grace on us; You draw us into the shelter of your wing; You anchor us in your hope that never fails. In this moment, we choose to put our hope in you – now and forever. Lord Jesus, thank You for all the ways You challenged and changed us last year. Thank You for meeting us each time we got still before You, for hearing our prayers, for knowing and loving us so completely. We are especially grateful that You have shown us what your hope looks like in your Word and through the lives of other believers. You even demonstrated the kind of life You desire for us by living on earth as One who chose to put His hope in the Father every moment of every day. Keep teaching us how to lay down our burdens and to choose You. Keep reminding us that You are always, always with us. Holy Spirit, we know we do not have strength and wisdom enough to stick to the narrow road laid out before us. We confess how we’ve tried to be strong in our own power, how we’ve chosen to believe the lies of doubt and despair, cynicism and fear. We believe that with You, we can overcome all lies with God’s truth. We give to You our bodies, hearts, minds, and spirits – do a new work in them, we pray. We give You all the room You need to keep guiding us in the coming year. Thank You for the strength You give us each time we choose to put our hope in Christ! In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.
(1 Thessalonians 3:3; Psalm 139:5; 1 Timothy 1:14; Psalm 91:1; Hebrews 6:19; Luke 23:34; John 4:34; Matthew 11:28–30; Matthew 28:20; 1 John 1:9; Acts 1:8; 1 John 5:13-14)

Resources: I love sharing with you the books, podcasts, articles, and anything else that has inspired, encouraged, or taught me. These are humble offerings with no expectations.

• And so, we wrap-up another year while also looking forward to this new one. The practice of looking up every occurrence of ‘hidden’ in the Bible has only piqued my curiosity for what this year holds. We’ll begin a brand new series next week called “Hidden Messages!”
• The Shift movie comes from the same studio, Angel, that produces The Chosen series. It’s a recent enough release that it’s still showing in theaters. “Guild Members” of Angel Studios support the ministry financially on a regular basis and get to stream movies like The Shift for free — FYI. Here’s more info about the movie and the Guild.
• Jesus Revolution, on the other hand, has been out long enough that it now streams on Netflix. Ironically, the actor who plays Jesus in The Chosen, Jonathan Roumie, plays one of the key roles in this movie. This is all based on the true story of a great awakening that happened in the 70s across America where God used a once strung-out hippie, a burned out pastor, and a broken teenager to set southern California on fire for Jesus. Here’s a little more info on the movie if you haven’t already seen it.
• Our Advent playlist, A Thrill of Hope, has probably run its course if you’re tired of Christmas music. 😉 I’ve been busy curating our next playlist, Hidden Messages, and am excited to share that with you next week. If you need a non-holiday-heavy song, how about a sneak peek? This song from Sarah Reeves offers a fresh infusion of hope!
• If you’re looking for some resources to reflect on the past year and prepare your heart for this year, I shared three in my most recent The Abiding Life Newsletter. Pete Greig, Emily P. Freeman, and Rebekah Lyons have each created documents with questions and directive language to help us get still and reflect before we march right into all that the new year already holds. I highly recommend choosing one to settle into for a bit if you haven’t already done something like this. You can subscribe to my newsletter here, but if you need the actual resources, please email me.
• On Wednesdays I’ve begun posting 5-7 minute teaching videos on my Facebook Author Page and Instagram (@shelleylinnjohnson).

Rhythms: As my newsletter’s title infers, we seek to develop an abiding life in this space — a place where we can get informed but also be transformed as we learn to abide in God’s presence throughout our days. I like to think that developing rhythms is what aids us in our desire to become more Christlike.

• The rhythm of stillness continues to be a much needed practice in my life. — it always will! Even when I wake up in the middle of the night unable to slow the thoughts down, I can lean into the breathing, the reciting of Scripture, and the listening for God’s voice in order to calm my mind and spirit. Of course, the best part of stillness is simply time in God’s presence.
• Finally, as a community, let us not neglect sharing God’s hope with others! Share your God-stories with people around you. Share this site. Share God’s Word. Shine His light of His hope into the world!

Featured Photo by me. 🙂 “All the Bits and Pieces” photo by Sahand Babali on Unsplash.