The Hope the World Needs, But Just Can’t Find
By Michael Kelley
Many modern psychologists consider hope not just a luxury, but actually a deep human need. I’m quoting here from an article from the American Psychological Association:
Beginning in the 1980s, the work of the late psychologist C. Rick Snyder, PhD, set the stage for much of today’s research about hope. Snyder defined hope as “the perceived capability to derive pathways to desired goals, and motivate oneself via agency thinking to use those pathways” Snyder also published work on positive psychology, or the study of how people and communities can thrive. Unlike optimism, which is simply the expectation of a better future, hope is action-oriented and a skill that can be learned. “We often use the word ‘hope’ in place of wishing, like you hope it rains today or you hope someone’s well,” said Chan Hellman, PhD, a professor of psychology and founding director of the Hope Research Center at the University of Oklahoma. “But wishing is passive toward a goal, and hope is about taking action toward it.”
Humanity has certainly taken action in hope. We have put our hope in progress and technology, believing that science and innovation will eventually solve our biggest problems, and yet advancements in technology have brought along with them advancements in things like weapons and an increasing disconnection with other human beings. Technology, with its improvements, has made us more desensitized, more anxious, and more lonely.
We need a better hope than that.
We have put our hope in self-actualization, believing that if we can “find our own truth,” express ourselves fully, and be true to ourselves above anything else, we can finally achieve personal happiness. And yet today we no longer know what to believe. We don’t know what’s real and what’s not. We are grasping and clinging to anything that might be true because we don’t know what is.
We need a better hope than that.
We have put our hope in material prosperity and security. Our hope has been tied to economic stability, believing that if we can acquire enough wealth and comfort, we can not only be fulfilled, but actually be safe in an unpredictable world. But the world is unpredictable. Just check the balance on your 401K and you’ll see.
We need a better hope than that.
We have put our hope in social and political activism, believing that if we can come together, we can finally bring about better laws and social justice. We can create a heaven on earth. And yet all our political activism has led not to peace but to more and more violence as we find a deeper and deeper hatred for one another.
We need a better hope than that.
We have put our hope in education and reason. We have tied our hope to the future in our ability to become smart enough and sophisticated enough to eliminate suffering and injustice. We certainly have never been more educated. We have never been more informed. And yet all our education has left us cold and unfeeling, using our education as a means to look down upon those who haven’t yet achieved our intellectual level.
We need a better hope than that.
The world wants to hope… but it doesn’t know how. We don’t need to hope in any of these things because we do have a better hope. A living hope:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you (1 Peter 1:3-4).
This is our hope. It’s in a resurrected Christ, and because of His resurrection, He invites us into resurrection as well. That’s why we can affirm with Paul, at the end of 1 Corinthians 15:
Death has been swallowed up in victory.
Where, death, is your victory?
Where, death, is your sting?
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!
Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain (1 Cor. 15:55-58).
Michael Kelley is a husband, father of three, author, and speaker from Nashville, TN. His latest book is a year-long family devotional guide called The Whole Story for the Whole Family. Find his personal blog at michaelkelley.co.
