Finding Hope Amidst Chaos
Finding time to reflect and rest amidst uncertainty
It can be easy to lose one’s way amidst the pain and uncertainty this world can bring. Each day goes by, and another news story about a mass shooting, a natural disaster, or a war grievance crosses our eyes. These sad events are beginning to feel numbing, almost too much to bear in addition to the sadness that graces our own lives. Days add into weeks, and weeks bleed into years. Is there a way to avoid the hopelessness of our feeble human condition?
Yes.
I am reminded of hope this Easter season. As a Christian, I find the beauty of Jesus’s death and resurrection to be comforting. No other religion showcases such humility within its deities. Jesus showcased humility in taking on the human form, and he understood the immense pain and suffering humans experience within the world.
Hope can be hard to come by nowadays. Could this be because human beings are unable to solve their own dilemmas? We seek hope within governmental institutions, ideological figures, or small groups of community within our cities. Yet, over and over again these institutions have failed us. America is a nation with incredible wealth and power. Personal suffering is one step removed from my daily existence, and I am hard pressed to think back to a time when I lived in continual suffering. Billions of human beings around the world do not have that luxury.
This Easter I am going to look back and reflect upon Jesus. An individual who was fully God and fully man. A being who decided to visit Earth to live the experience of the downtrodden and the poor. A being who sought to die a death no human being would want to endure. He did this because he knew the pain of hopelessness and heartache. He knew that humanity was unable to save itself from its chaos and destruction.
2000 years later we find humanity still grappling with its brokenness. War plagues many countries. Economic depression is on the horizon, and disease races across our, increasingly, interconnected globe. We are more depressed and isolated than ever. Unfortunately, we have not been able to solve our broken existence.
I am grateful that Jesus foresaw humanities need for salvation. What is incredible is that He brought hope by overcoming the very pain and suffering billions of humans experience.
Dear reader, I hope that you find hope this Easter weekend. Whether you are saddened by atrocity in Ukraine, or suffering from the passing of a loved one, know that there is a God who experienced death in order that you may find hope and life.
Resources Influencing this Musing:
Matthew 27-28
Luke 23-24