Real hope in challenging times

Cross Rhythms Plymouth Station Manager, Dave Simpson shares the importance of life rhythms including having hope in challenging times.

According to that wealth of information on the internet that is Wikipedia, hope is defined as “an optimistic state of mind that is based on an expectation of positive outcomes with respect to events and circumstances in one’s life or the world at large.”

Hope is such an important aspect of our lives. It can be a major factor in keeping us in good mental health as we look ahead to the future and have things to look forward to.

Hope in relation to circumstances changing for the better was a major help for me through the Covid 19 pandemic. In the difficult times of lockdown, especially in January of 2021 which I personally found the most difficult, I would cling on to the hope that one day the restrictions would be lifted and we would have times of fun and freedom once again.

At times this felt like it might never happen but as we head towards the summer of 2022 these measures are no longer in place and are, I hope, a thing of the past.

I write this in all sincerity with awareness of the difficulties many people are still facing as a result of Covid 19 whether because of infection to themselves or loved ones.

As we move ahead into 2022 it is great to see people able to do the things they really enjoy again. My social media feeds are once again full of photos of friends going abroad on holiday and planning trips for the future.

With things opening up I have booked tickets to a number of gigs across the country to see bands that I have enjoyed listening to for many years.

Having these events in my calendar gives me things to look forward to and this rhythm of life is an important part of developing hope.

It doesn’t need to be big things either, I find myself naturally thinking ahead to the coming weekend and what I might get up to and even simply the evening and what I might eat for dinner! Every single one of these gives me some measure of hope of something to come in the future that is going to be good.

Whilst this is all true and important, life isn’t that simple. For some of us looking to the future with hope is really difficult.

Have hope in challenging times

It might be that you find yourself in a very difficult set of financial circumstances where the future looks hard and it isn’t going to be possible to do some of the things you might previously have hoped for.

Perhaps you find yourself in ill health and you’re restricted physically in doing the things you once loved.

The challenge that is common to all of us is time. We’re mortal after all and the ageing process affects us all.  Many people reach middle age and struggle mentally. A major reason being the future doesn’t seem as hopeful as it used to. It’s easy to feel like the best days are behind you.

There are things we can all do to instil a bit of hope in our day to day lives like planning future events or making plans to spend time with loved ones.

But is there anything we can lean on to provide hope in the face of those very real challenges of life?

For me personally and for many millions around the world our hope is in the promises of the Christian faith.

There is no promise that life will all go smoothly, in fact far from it when you consider certain parts of the Bible! However there is the promise that God will be with us in all the things we go through both good and bad providing us real comfort and help in times of need.

In the face of a world that offers us both good and challenging times and the certainty of the ageing process the hope of the Christian faith is that God offers us life beyond death where the difficulties of this life will be no more.

This hope is far more than just an optimistic state of mind but is rooted in the person of Jesus and a faith that has spanned all continents and impacted millions of people over thousands of years.

It is what we are motivated by at Cross Rhythms Plymouth so if this interests you do listen to the station on 96.3FM and online at crossrhythms.co.uk/plymouth and if you have questions we’d love to hear from you via info@crplymouth.co.uk.