Love Hopes All Things

The year 2020 will go down in history. But I wonder, in 50 years, what will we say? Will it be about how hard it was? Will it be about how much it affected us for the worst? Or will we be talking about the hope that endured even through the days when all seemed lost?

I want to think that the year will be noted as one that saw the world rally together, when churches stepped up to fill the gaps in the system—food banks, school lunches, outdoor carol services—a year when we figured it out and found a way.

This was only possible because we had hope—hope that soon, it would be better—hope that even when people were grieving and lonely, we could still reach them with the love of God. Because God’s hope endures all things even when all seems lost, God’s light can still break through. “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:5)

Hope is such a difficult word to define because it is only ever concerned with the future. And now we are in a new year. We are in that future. So, what can we take from 2020 and bring into the future that is ahead of us? Is it that we can do it, whatever the “it” is.

Maybe it is stepping into a new area of ministry that you have been thinking about for a while. Maybe it is seeking forgiveness or being the one who forgives. Or perhaps it is simply growing in faith and believing in this year that it is filled with hope. Or perhaps it is simply growing in faith and believing in this year that it is filled with hope. 1 Corinthians 13 is the verse that is often seen at weddings. It is the verse that we look to when we talk about the love that we should strive for in a marriage. It is almost an instruction manual for how we as Christians should love one another. But what if we were to look at it, and remind ourselves that the ultimate “love” is Jesus? And, what if we were to remind ourselves that this passage also talks to us about how God loves the world and all who are in it.

When we read the passage “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Corinthians 13:7 ESV), we get a fresh grasp on how Jesus may have interacted with the season we have been in, and we can use it as our example. If we stop and think that God is the best example of love and even in the darkest of times, God bears all things, God believes all things, God hopes all things and endures all things, so must we not then bear all things, believe all things, hope all things and endure all things?

Now I am not saying that we cannot be in despair and pain; Jesus experienced those emotions too. But what I am hoping you get from this is the understanding that in this new day, even though we are still unsure of what is to come, with Jesus we can hope all things.

We can hope for a breakthrough; we can hope that the church will continue to be a beacon of light. Through Jesus, and with Jesus, we can do anything. So, in this new year, let us be standing in audacious prayer for all things, even for the things that in this moment feel completely impossible because, through God, all things are possible (Mark 10:27).