Daring to Hope
Have you ever been stuck in a book in the Bible? In the sense that no matter how much you try to move on to something else you just keep getting drawn back to the same book.
Right now I’m stuck in John. It’s happened to me before with various different books but never with quite this intensity. I just can’t help coming back again and again to John. There’s something that calls out to me from the book. I’m supposed to be studying Philippians and I love that book but it’s not capturing my heart and mind like John is right now. Every time I come back to it it’s like God is speaking personally to me through it. The simplest things and yet things that hit me in the gut. Versions of the same thing: the call to “Come and See”. To come and see who Jesus is. To come and see who I am. To come and see the people around me as Jesus sees them. To come and see how He sees my circumstances. It’s so simple and yet I cannot move on from this call right now.
Because of this my plan was to write about John over the next few (but let’s face it probably many) Saturdays. But today the news coming out of China and Hong Kong is heavy on my heart and I didn’t feel like following my plan to write about John 1 - I wanted to write about Hong Kong. But I decided to look again anyway. No harm in looking right. Maybe something would speak to me ...
...Enter John 1:5 “The light (Jesus) shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it”
And so as I continue to watch and pray, as I continue to feel anger and grief and disbelief at what I see, as I worry about what will happen in the coming days in this city which I love, as I wish that this Coronavirus chaos was not preventing me from being in the city I love this half term, John yet again calls me into hope. A hope that looks foolish and uncertain. A hope for something that is so far away from what seems possible, but nonetheless a hope.
I’m drawn into hope also by the fact that China have picked this moment in time to release their bombshell announcement. This moment in time when churches in Hong Kong have already been calling for a time of prayer and fasting, a moment in time that is when churches around the world are celebrating Pentecost during a lockdown period so many many people are home praying and fasting for justice, unity, and God’s Kingdom to come. It may seem like a perfect time to release such news as Hong Kong, and indeed the world, have been weakened in their ability to react to such news by the Coronavirus, but actually I believe the truth is that it is a time when the Church is in the strongest place to react to such news.
John 1:5 “The light (Jesus) shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it”
My prayer as we stand on the brink of what is to come is that as a Church we would have the wisdom to know how to be light at this time. That as a Church we would have the wisdom to see the darkness that we fight and not be distracted by jumping to conclusions about what that darkness is. That as a Church we would fear God above all else. That as a Church we would continue to hope that God would be moving in this city and remember that the darkness can never extinguish the light. That God would have mercy on Hong Kong, and indeed all of China. That His Kingdom would be revealed and unveiled in unexpected and beautiful ways. That as a Church we would learn how to love one another greatly and not be consumed by fear and hatred.
So here I am daring to hope despite the gathering clouds.
Right now I’m stuck in John. It’s happened to me before with various different books but never with quite this intensity. I just can’t help coming back again and again to John. There’s something that calls out to me from the book. I’m supposed to be studying Philippians and I love that book but it’s not capturing my heart and mind like John is right now. Every time I come back to it it’s like God is speaking personally to me through it. The simplest things and yet things that hit me in the gut. Versions of the same thing: the call to “Come and See”. To come and see who Jesus is. To come and see who I am. To come and see the people around me as Jesus sees them. To come and see how He sees my circumstances. It’s so simple and yet I cannot move on from this call right now.
Because of this my plan was to write about John over the next few (but let’s face it probably many) Saturdays. But today the news coming out of China and Hong Kong is heavy on my heart and I didn’t feel like following my plan to write about John 1 - I wanted to write about Hong Kong. But I decided to look again anyway. No harm in looking right. Maybe something would speak to me ...
...Enter John 1:5 “The light (Jesus) shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it”
And so as I continue to watch and pray, as I continue to feel anger and grief and disbelief at what I see, as I worry about what will happen in the coming days in this city which I love, as I wish that this Coronavirus chaos was not preventing me from being in the city I love this half term, John yet again calls me into hope. A hope that looks foolish and uncertain. A hope for something that is so far away from what seems possible, but nonetheless a hope.
I’m drawn into hope also by the fact that China have picked this moment in time to release their bombshell announcement. This moment in time when churches in Hong Kong have already been calling for a time of prayer and fasting, a moment in time that is when churches around the world are celebrating Pentecost during a lockdown period so many many people are home praying and fasting for justice, unity, and God’s Kingdom to come. It may seem like a perfect time to release such news as Hong Kong, and indeed the world, have been weakened in their ability to react to such news by the Coronavirus, but actually I believe the truth is that it is a time when the Church is in the strongest place to react to such news.
John 1:5 “The light (Jesus) shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it”
My prayer as we stand on the brink of what is to come is that as a Church we would have the wisdom to know how to be light at this time. That as a Church we would have the wisdom to see the darkness that we fight and not be distracted by jumping to conclusions about what that darkness is. That as a Church we would fear God above all else. That as a Church we would continue to hope that God would be moving in this city and remember that the darkness can never extinguish the light. That God would have mercy on Hong Kong, and indeed all of China. That His Kingdom would be revealed and unveiled in unexpected and beautiful ways. That as a Church we would learn how to love one another greatly and not be consumed by fear and hatred.
So here I am daring to hope despite the gathering clouds.
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