Pursuit of a Better Me: Hope

My heart has been heavy the past week as I think about the events that took place last Sunday in Las Vegas. I woke up to the news and was completely horrified at what had taken place. I immediately started questioning everything. Why did he do this? What on earth was he thinking to take the lives of so many innocent people? Why was he allowed to have so many guns? When will the violence end?

I know there are so many people out there who are questioning, “Why would a loving God allow this to happen?”. I know not everyone reading this may be a believer, but please just understand that God has nothing to do with this. God gives us free will. The ability to make our own decisions – to act at our own discretion. With this amazing freedom He has blessed us with, unfortunately comes sin and tragedy. We have the choice to make the right decisions, be a good person and leave the world a little better than we found it. Sadly, not everyone chooses that.

Over the past year I’ve continued to have this sense of fear as we’ve witnessed numerous terrorist attacks, natural disasters and other horrific catastrophes. I’ve even caught myself several times thinking, “How can I raise a family in a world with so much violence, hate and segregation?”. It seems like things are only getting worse, and I can’t even imagine what it’s going to be like in 25 years. But then I remember that’s exactly what the devil wants us to think. He wants us to be scared. He wants us to lose faith and turn against each other. But friends, we cannot have freedom if we’re constantly living in fear. Which brings me to the word I’ve chosen this week: hope. Hope is a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.

To be honest, I’m not crazy about that definition. Hope is not just wishing for the best. It isn’t waiting to see what happens and hope that it turns out well. It isn’t, “I hope my team wins the game this week” or “I hope I win the lottery”. As a believer, we know that hope is solid. After studying this word, I’ve found it to be very similar to faith and trust. Hope as a Christian is “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). Our hope (faith, trust – whatever you want to call it) cannot be moved by circumstances or the evil acts of terror people commit on our country. Hope is knowing that this is not what God wants – He is hurting even more than we are right now because of what happened. But we must remain faithful and hopeful knowing, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” (Psalm 46:1).

My thoughts, prayers and hope are with any of the victims and their families through this tragic time. We WILL get through this together. There HAS to be a change, and that change starts with each one of us. Stop the violence. Stop the hate. That doesn’t mean you can’t stand up for what you believe in, but you don’t have to do so while inflicting violence. Be kind to everyone you meet, because you never know what they’re going through and what can make them tick. Spread hope and do good. We all know the world needs a few more good people.

Photography by Kate Elizabeth Photography