Hope for Tomorrow
Leadership Lessons Book-by-Book – Isaiah
It was the late-1990’s. My pager buzzed at 10pm. I looked at the digital display and it was the phone number to the church office. The church had set up an emergency voice mailbox which was connected to my pager. When I called the mailbox to retrieve the message, it was from a woman in our church who had found out that her husband was having an affair. She needed to talk to a pastor immediately because she wanted to commit suicide. When I called the senior pastor to relay the message, he said he wasn’t able to talk to the woman at that moment so I needed to. Me? The guy who takes care of the administration of the church office? The guy who prepares the bulletin every week? The guy who makes sure the office is open at 8:30am and closes at 4:00pm?
I had no experience with this type of counseling. I had done one, maybe two, pre-marital counseling sessions, but those are pretty easy because it’s moving towards a celebration of two becoming one. I had never dealt with a life and death situation where a person was on the verge of committing suicide. I asked the pastor what I was supposed to say. He told me two things: listen to her and give her hope. I asked, what kind of hope?!? He said, I can’t see her now but I can see her in the morning; let her know I can see her tomorrow.
So I called the woman back, told her the pastor wasn’t available but I was willing to listen to what happened. After she told me her story, she sounded less drastic than the message that was on the voicemail, and I asked her if she would be willing to meet with the pastor in the morning, which she agreed to. We closed in prayer and I hung up the phone. I found myself shaking a bit with some perspiration on my shirt. With a little bit of hope for the next day, she was able to make it through the night. Today, I see the woman around town. She is a nurse at a local hospital and she recently told me she was on her way to a mission trip to Brazil. And her marriage is intact, flourishing like a marriage should. It was amazing how a little bit of hope could help this person make it to the next day.
When you come to the book of Isaiah, this first prophetical book is made up of 66 chapters and can be split into two sections that are easy to remember. The first section is comprised of 39 chapters (I think about the 39 books of the Old Testament) and the second section is made up of 27 chapters (like the 27 books of the New Testament). As you read the first section, there is a lot of judgment upon the Judah and the surrounding nations such as Babylon, Assyria, Moab, and Egypt. They have disregarded the ways of the Lord. The nation of Judah, the nation that houses the people of the Lord, has sought safety and security in everything but God. The Lord speaks of destruction after destruction upon these nations. By the time you get to the 39th chapter it seems as if no one will be left standing. But once you get to the 40th chapter, there seems to be a change. It goes from carnage to confidence, from extinction to expectation, from overthrow to optimism. There is hope.
Isaiah says about the capital city of Judah:
“Speak kindly to Jerusalem;
And call out to her, that her warfare has ended,
That her iniquity has been removed,
That she has received of the Lord’s hand
Double for all her sins.” (40:2)
Then there is a glimmer of hope as John the Baptist is foretold:
“A voice is calling,
‘Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness;
Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.’” (40:3)
Then the promised Messiah is mentioned:
“Behold, the Lord God will come with might,
With His arm ruling for Him.
Behold, His reward is with Him
And His recompense before Him.
Like a shepherd He will tend His flock,
In His arm He will gather the lambs
And carry them in His bosom;
He will gently lead the nursing ewes.” (40:10-11)
Then there is a promise to believers:
“He gives strength to the weary,
And to him who lacks might He increases power.
Though youths grow weary and tired,
And vigorous young men stumble badly,
Yet those who wait for the Lord
Will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary.” (40:29-31)
God did not leave His people hopeless. He gave them promises for a new day. People in despair could cling to God and trust Him.
People today need to know God has not forgotten them. Sometimes I will meet with leaders who say God has been silent and their times in the Word has been dry. What doesn’t help is someone telling them that they need to pray more or they need to memorize more Scripture, although those two things do help. Sometimes hope can be found through you. God uses you to bring hope to others; through a phone call, email, or coffee meeting. Throughout today, I’m praying for two brothers who are going through difficult times and I texted them to let them know. They are not forgotten, there is hope. And one day they will look back at this difficult time and they will find that God was faithful, and that God used you to point them towards Him. As long as there is God, there is hope.
Questions to Think About:
• Think back to a difficult time. What gave you hope? Who did it come through?
• Do you know someone going through a difficult time? How can you bring hope to this person?
© Gary Lau 2015
All rights reserved. This article may not be distributed, forwarded or duplicated without prior permission from the author.
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