The Falsehood of False Hope

Hello again.

It's been a while since I last posted. A lot has happened in between.

Last year, two of my close friends (Stephen Donnelly and Mandy Gold) were killed in a car accident. They were younger than I am, by quite a few years, and were central members of my community. The events of that day serve as a constant reminder of the brevity of life.

“…you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.”

James 4:14 (ESV)

I find this type of passage in the bible quite interesting. To the cynical observer, it can look pretty pessimistic and out of character when you consider the hopeful message of Christianity. In fact, the bible has a whole book about the folly of our earthly life.

Ecclesiastes is traditionally attributed to Solomon – the wisest man ever to have lived. In it, he recounts all of the things he has learnt through his efforts, “applying his heart” to all kind of matters, and pretty quickly a theme appears: all is vanity.

“For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow."

Ecclesiastes 1:18 (ESV)

His early chapters talk about the vanity of doing anything: we all suffer the same fate, so what is the point of living wisely, or working hard, or self-indulgence? “All is vanity and striving after wind,” he says.

“I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me.”

Ecclesiastes 2:18 (ESV)

Solomon spends a lot of time on the concept of life – and everything in it – being vanity, because death comes to us all. He sees the injustice of the world, and laments at its folly. He sees that we cannot hope to know the ways of God, and it’s useless to try to fathom their depths. It is as pointless to live in the future, as it is to live in the past.

“He who observes the wind will not sow,

and he who regards the clouds will not reap.”

Ecclesiastes 11:4 (ESV)

If you look closer, though, there is another theme:

“And I commend joy, for man has nothing better under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun.”

Ecclesiastes 8:15 (ESV)

Keep on in Joy. Live in the time you have. Rejoice in your youth. The Preacher says that there is hope in life. There is a point to it all.

“What gain has the worker from his toil? I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man.

I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him. That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away.”

Ecclesiastes 3:9-15 (ESV)

We have now.

We can choose to do what we like with life.

We have the option of sin, or freedom.

We can seek wisdom, or folly.

It doesn’t make a difference to God. Whatever He has done, is done. It cannot be augmented, nor can it be diminished. There is a time for everything, but the best thing is to fear God.

“Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I know that it will be well with those who fear God, because they fear before him.”

Ecclesiastes 8:12 (ESV)

Echoes of this sentiment resound throughout the bible. Old and New Testaments proclaim that God is for us, not against us (Romans 8); that he works all things together for our good (Romans 8, Genesis 50:20); that he will finish what he started in us (Philippians 1:6). If we know that all will be well, then how can we ever feel hopeless?

If we know our future is complete, and our past is dealt with, we are free to live for right now. Now is the best place to be. C.S. Lewis puts it like this:

“The Future is, of all things, the think least like eternity. It is the most temporal part of time – for the Past is frozen and no longer flows, and the Present is all lit up with eternal rays.”

C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters

The thing is, the enemy knows this. He knows that we are easily distracted from this wisdom. He shows us our electricity bill, or lets us think about our children’s university fees. He reminds us of the time we lied to our loved ones, or when we thought that lustful thought about the girl on the bus. His aim is to convince us that we are beyond redemption. He asks the question: “if your god cannot provide for your household bills in this life, how can he care for you in the next,” and “if you are so righteous, why did you lust?”

He tries to steal our hope, because he knows that if we are hopeless, we are crippled. If we are hopeless, we rely on our own means. We strive to make ourselves good enough. We forget that Christ’s work on the cross is sufficient, and that his redemption is complete. We are no longer sinners, for we have been saved by grace. We are no longer tied to our past, because we are new creations. We are no longer fearful of the future because we know the insignificance of this life, and the joy of eternity. We live in hope because the present is lit up with eternity.

Hopelessness cripples.

Hope drives us forward.

Let’s choose to hope together. Right Now.

Stephen Donnelly – 29^th May 1987 – 22^nd June 2013

Mandy Gold – 26^th Oct 1991 – 22^nd June 2013

RIP