Hope..

I've been thinking about the phenomenon of hope. It's an interesting phenomenon when you really think about it. Why do people hope? We hope because we can build that hope on something right? Hope has to be based on facts. It is based on events and situations that allow you to have a basis to believe that things will turn out to be alright. But what if a situation seems un-salvageable...will you still hope? I was thinking about this issue because a few days ago I watched a documentary, a Barbara Walters interview with Patrick Swayze.

Patrick Swayze claim to fame was through the movies Ghost with Demi Moore and Dirty Dancing. At age 56 he was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer in late January 2008. He passed away last year in September 2009 at age 57. His struggle with cancer went on for nearly 2 years. The diagnosis indicated that the type of cancer was incurable. What they can do was to slow down the spread of the cancer through chemotherapy. What will be the most adequate response in a situation like that? Does it makes sense to hope or just survive from day to day trying to stay alive? Patrick made a decision to live and he said that in the interview with Barbara Walters. In the midst of his cancer, he went on to film 12 episodes of a new TV series called "The Beast". He had to wake up at 3am every morning to get his bowel movement regulated before leaving the house at 6 in the morning to go to the set.

When I saw the interview I was asking myself..why hope when there seems no reason to hope? You know you are going to die and finding a cure in the next few years seems like an impossible thing. Why still the will to live and hope that things will get better? Sometimes we see on documentaries people who are going to pass away. Some fight to live and some resign to the inevitable fate. But at the end of the day..the desire to stay alive..to live..roars and echo in the core of our being. That is the way that God has made us. God has programmed hope into our very soul. To hope for the best outcome even though hope seems frail. How do people like Patrick Swayze live their lives from day to day. What are the thoughts that run through their mind every passing moment?

I think when you are in a situation when there seem to be little or no hope the only way to live is to be able to see the end as something new. We must be able to see past the end into a new chapter of our lives. For Christians who have a terminal illness I think there are 3 things that they can build their hope on..one is the fact that there will be a discovery of a cure, the second that God will miraculously intervene and heal them and third is that eternal life starts when physical life ends. And the key I believe to be able to live like that without panic, without intense chronic worry is to not cling on to what will ultimately pass away but cling on to God's plan and promises for your life. The bible says in Jeremiah that God knows His plans for us, plans to prosper us and not to harm us and plans to give us hope and a future. The only way to hope and be happy is to believe in the plans that God has for you. The circumstances may be bleak and there seems to be no solution to the situation that you are going through but you need to look past the end to accept what God has prepared for you and I believe that is the only way to live.

Sometimes in life, we hold very dear to ourselves certain things...like money, possessions, health, relationships and we think that if we come to the end of any of these that is the end of life. But I believe that God wants us to look past what we are desiring to have to the promises, His will and calling for our lives.

To whoever is reading this blog I just want to encourage you that if you have come to a point when it seems to be the end or if there is very little to hope for...rather than clinging on to what is precious to you cling on to the plans that God can have for you of what can happen after this perceived end. Continue to hope but hope in a way that you can have faith that God always have better things in life for you. But God may surprise you..the end may not be the end for some of us. There are second chances for some of us. So always hope but be able to let go if things don't work out. Hope this will encourage those of you who are going through a tough season of your life :)