The Intersection of Hope and Disappointment

AUGUST 12, 2020    |    2 MINUTE READ
DOUG AND GRACE MILLER, GLOBAL WORKERS

Due to the sensitive area these global workers are serving in, we are using the pseudonyms of Doug and Grace Miller in order to protect their identity.

People all around the world have faced disappointments during the current season of life. Many are struggling to figure out how to move forward and hold onto hope despite the unknowns surrounding them. Doug and Grace Miller, global workers serving in a sensitive location, encouraged their ministry partners recently with this message.

Math, in general, is a mystery for some of us, but a few things are comprehensible. For example, a rule of math (ok, geometry) says that two perfectly parallel lines will never intersect.

In the current world situation, there seems to be a lot of disappointment and not much hope. How are we supposed to handle disappointment when things seem hopeless? Is hope always just out of reach? Is disappointment to be our constant companion? So here is the big question: are disappointment and hope like parallel lines that just go on forever without ever intersecting?

You don’t need to be told that we are living in challenging times. This is true for those who live locally, as well as global workers like us who live half a world away from our passport countries.

One question that is common with us all is “How do we plan for the future?” We seem to say ‘maybe’ and ‘I hope so’ a lot these days. Just this morning, Doug told one worker that our new normal is “We will have to wait and see.” Everything is a big question. The truth is, we don’t like that kind of normal.

Hope and Disappointment on the Global Scope

There are global workers who are trying to get home. There are global workers who are trying to leave home to go to their place of service. One young lady’s short-term assignment has turned into long-term. Her flights home keep getting cancelled. Her parents are concerned. She hopes she will get a flight next week, but she has been disappointed so often that it is hard to hope that the flight will actually happen. What would you tell her family?

Another young lady has been preparing to go for several years. Everything is in order, she is ready to go, and yet she has no idea when she will go.

A couple we know has to leave the country where they serve because their visa has not been renewed. They are looking for a new place to go. We invited them to come visit, and together we were going to explore opportunities. But things changed, and they had to postpone their trip. They can’t come here, and yet they can’t stay there. How do you handle hope and disappointment over and over again?

Disappointment and hope are not parallel lines.

They do intersect.

Where they meet is called faith.

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1 (NIV)

Disappointment is the place where things are not as we think they should be.

Hope is the place where we believe things will be as they should be.

Faith takes them both and joins them together in the person of Jesus Christ.

He understands our disappointment.

He is our living hope.

WHAT NOW?

PRAY: God is faithful, and our hope is in Him. Together, we work so that others may place their hope in Him as well. Pray that He would multiply our efforts to reach those who have not yet found the hope He offers.