Where can we find hope in the world today? Do we put our hope in the stock market? Do we put our hope in our marriage? Is our hope in the stability of our job? Do we look to our political figures for our hope?
There may be many outlets that give us “hope” and a sense of security when things seem unsteady and bleak in our world.
But do these things bring us hope? What if my marriage is a mess, my investments went bad, my workplace is going through rounds of layoffs, and I don’t agree with my political leaders. Imagine having these uncertainties, then experiencing a disaster on top of these hopeless situations.
In disaster stricken communities, we often meet families who have lost their home, possibly have no insurance, and have no clue where to turn to remedy their situation. We’ve encountered homeowners after disasters who have expressed “I wish I was dead” because they don’t know how to cope with the hopelessness.
This world can be bleak, so if we have our eyes focused on the world for our hope, it may appear there is no way out of our distress.
Now imagine that kind of hopelessness colliding with disaster: your home destroyed, your family displaced, and your sense of security stripped away. That’s the reality many face after storms, tornados, and floods.
IDES teams respond to disasters specifically to provide, not just help, but also hope! You don’t have a solution for how to cut a tree off of your house? We can handle it. Your roof received heavy damage and the interior of your house is damp? We can air it out and fix it. “Why are you helping us?” Because “someone” helped us first.
If there is already hopelessness before a disaster, how do you bring additional hope? Our leaders and our teams are trained in sharing hope the same way our ministers and elders train us at our local church. We share the hope we have found in Jesus Christ. Paul writes in his letter to the Romans (Romans 5:5, ESV), “hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Our hope is found in Jesus. We are hope-filled and encouraged because we have placed our faith in Jesus. He is the “someone” who helped us first.
That is our goal here at IDES, to bring hope where there is little hope to be found. Disasters are a pretty bleak affair, but it doesn’t take a disaster to show us the world can be a hopeless place. However, we have the greatest hope of all that we are able to share: our hope in Jesus Christ. The Son of God who came and died so we can be saved and have a relationship with our Heavenly Father. Without Jesus, we have no hope, but through Him, we have all the hope we could ever need.