The past couple of weeks have been full, hard, and challenging. When a stone hits the water, it creates ripples far and beyond what is immediately visible. With two national stories–including one that was also very local and very much in our wheelhouse–there have been a mixture of feelings, questions, and a continual leaning on God to lead us through dark times and scenarios. 
Tragic stories are not unusual for us. In fact, in our work we see some amount of tragedy, some amount of pain every day. It can be easy to become disillusioned by the circumstances in the world. But in such times, I am reminded of something the Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said while sitting in a Nazi cell. In writing about the “responsibility” of the Christian to be an optimist, he stated, “The essence of optimism is that it takes no account of the present, but it is a source of inspiration, of vitality and hope where others have resigned; it enables a man to hold his head high, to claim the future for himself and not to abandon it to his enemy.”
Whether or not you have been in the same situation of uncertainty as our clients have, all of us know the fear and pressures associated with what happens when something doesn’t happen the way we think it will happen. The famous psychologist Ernst Becker remarked that the vast majority of humanity only survives because it spends its time in denial of what is uncertain of. This may be true–and this is what makes the unknown and the unexpected so off-putting, perhaps even debilitating. In this sense, denial is the easiest thing to fall into. We may deny with our words and thoughts, embracing worldviews that deny hope. We may deny with our actions, embracing all sorts of worldly distractions like alcohol, sex, and physical harm. All of us fall into denial at times in various ways–but many make a home of it.
The alternative to denial, some psychologists, philosophers, and worldviews have said, is to “resign oneself” to the unknown–even to embrace it and befriend it (this is the view of those who try to un-enemy death). In that logic, there is no hope. Just brute, hard fact–and the sooner we recognize it and get it into our bones, the less panicky we will be when real life hits us in the face.
But such a view is entirely pessimistic (not to mention entirely human centered). It states that when bad things happen in our world, there is no plan, no rhyme, no reason, and ultimately, no redemption or restoration. It is inevitably bleak. And the best one can do in bleakness is grit your teeth and muster up the strength to find your own meaning. But ultimately, what happens in this world–both good and bad–is a matter of molecules, chemicals, and statistical chance. There really is no meaning behind any of it we can attach to. There is only meaning we can subjectively muster up.
Over the years, I have learned (and am still learning) that there is a major dividing line between denial and resignation. That line is Hope. Hope is not a denial of the unexpected, but a firm belief that the best alternative to both denial and resignation is something–or rather someone–outside us. It is a conviction that God sees the forest, even if all we can see are broken twigs and dried up branches amongst the trees. It is a form of resistance to “giving in” and it believes wholeheartedly that what the world means for evil, God ultimately means for good (Gen 50.20)–even if we cannot see it in our own lifespans.
While critics of faith sometimes put this position in the bucket of “denial”, it ultimately is a proclamation that the best way to get off a sinking ship and get to shore is not by trying to patchwork the boat from the inside but by allowing ourselves to get on the ship that is passing us by. It is not humanistic and cannot be judged by those standards. Those that have hope in the Redeemer do not say “You can make what happens to you as meaningful as you want.” Those that have hope proclaim that whether or not we see meaning in our lives, it is already there! We can deny it as much as we deny the unexpected, but ultimately we are denying what is in front of us: a Person who promises to make all things new (Rev 21.5).
The ultimate goal of Assurance–alongside the many other helping ministries across the world–is to point people to Hope. The Hope that is a Person. The Hope that is a Name. The Hope that is a Promise. Despite the uncertainty that faces our clients, ourselves, and our world, we have faith that God is working in His great plan for things to work together for good (Romans 8.28). How? We don’t always know. But we do know that somehow that plan is unfolding according to His purposes.
In light of a few weeks of some strong feelings, questions, and even some grief, I wanted to share with you (and perhaps myself and our team) that while it is easy to lose sight, to be discouraged, and to feel like the “unplanned, unexpected, and unknown” is making strides, ultimately it is Hope that wins out. The ship is here. All we have to do is climb the ladder.
