Hebrews 10:23
“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.”
Just like many of you, if you would have told me when we entered 2020 that within 3 months I would be in the place that I am now, I wouldn’t have believed you. Like I didn’t think I would ever live in my parents basement, to shelter in place from a global pandemic, but here I am. Uff da. That being said, living with my parents does have some perks, like mom’s cooking is kick butt, my parents puppy is a joy in a hard time, and we have some solid conversations over supper every night.
The other night, my dad was telling me about an article he came across called the Stockdale Paradox. It was quite fascinating. U.S. Admiral Jim Stockdale was captured in the height of the Vietnam war and put in a Prisoner-of-war camp called Hanoi Hilton. There he was tortured and beaten, given minimal food, and was fighting everyday to stay alive. After eight years he was released. When being interviewed about how he was able to stay alive he talked about the idea of being realistically hopeful.
These were his words. “I never lost faith in the end of the story…. I never doubted not only that I would get out, but also that I would prevail in the end and turn the experience into the defining event of my life, which, in retrospect, I would not trade.”
I am not sure if Admiral Jim Stockdale was a believer, but I do think we can take some of his words to heart. “I never lost faith in the end of the story.” We actually know the end of the story. When Jesus died for our sins, he paid the penalty of our sin and death had been defeated. Jesus gave us the right to become Children of God. And that is what we are. That story is over, our eternity is secure in Jesus. When Jesus Christ is Lord of your Life, you are going to heaven, whether that be in the next year or in 60 years.
Coronavirus has no power over our eternity! We are still unsure how Coronavirus will play out in our country, but this we do know that we can be realistically hopeful because of Christ! I would encourage you today to spend time thinking and writing down how you can take this time to be intentional with your relationship with God. Spend time with him because he is reason we can be realistically hopeful in this hard time.