Grounded Hope

Inside the Mind:
I was on my way home from school one day last week and was surprised to see my old friend James standing on the street corner. (You might recall one of my entries for November talking about him. He is the older homeless gentleman who often stands nearby union station.) The last time I had seen him was in November on my second to last day of the school quarter. He felt extremely sick, and was about to go to the hospital as soon as I was able to talk with him that day. Before that time, I often prayed with him and he seemed open to talking about God, but I was never able to establish if he was truly a Christian. I had planned to make sure of it the next day (my last day of school) over lunch with him because I was in a hurry to catch my train. As it turned out, he was not there the next day and I did not see him again until last week. After not seeing him that next day, I kicked myself several times for not doing it when I had the chance. At that point, I left it in God’s hands and trusted that my relationship with Him would not be in vain.

You can imagine my surprise when, after not seeing him for several months, he suddenly was back in his old spot as if nothing ever happened. After talking with him for a while, I was able to change the subject to his assurance in Christ. I was overjoyed as I listened to his testimony and how he truly accepted Christ as his Savior. After he was finished, something started nagging me. He mentioned several times over the months how sometimes he just hoped the Lord would take him. He felt tired of scrounging his way through the final years of his life. This brought me to a question: What hope is there in life besides heaven if you have absolutely nothing on earth and your time is running low?

Just imagine: You are nearing your 70s. You have no relatives, home, food, job, money, or friends. You are constantly in and out of the hospital. You spend all your time panhandling, just so you can get into a cheap hotel to get out of the evening cold. You can never get into the local Christian homeless program because the line is always tremendously long and they run out of room. The few times you do get in, you are scared away because of the fights and drug dealing that goes on there. You are a Christian. What do you do? Where does your hope lie?

The more I think about it, the more discouraged I get. How can I encourage and help someone in this state? This is something I have been thinking and praying about for a while. I just do not know too many Christians that are in this kind of position. Maybe there is a reason behind it?

Whatever the answer to these questions may be, I believe the hope that is found in the answers is vital to our lives as Christians. Our hope should not be grounded in a hope that can be shaken by loss of home or money, but in a hope that is founded on the immovable solid foundation of Christ alone.

Into the book of Job I go.

Prayer Requests:
That God make His presence known to James and that he will be encouraged.
That God will shed some light on this situation and help me to understand His ways in the matter.

Verse of the Week:
Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will not be shaken. – Psalm 62:5-6