Pioneer Christian Monthly - June, 1998

Hope For The Hopeless

by Gary Tomiuck

It is 1912, and you are aboard the world’s finest ship. Many say that even God cannot sink it. Hours later you are jolted forward. You hear and feel the mysterious banging—the crunching sound of metal scraping ice and the breaking of boards.

Freezing water gushes in. Panic is everywhere as people push and shove each other. Many grasp frantically for the lifeboats, which are insufficient. You are sinking fast. The power is out, and the lights are dead. The ship is breaking into pieces, and you are helpless.

Hundreds of innocent people—men, women, and children jump or are thrown into the icy waters. One by one they slowly suffer and die from hypothermia and exposure. Husbands and wives embrace, trying to comfort each other. They whisper words of encouragement: "I love you"; "It will be alright." Mothers cradle children, rubbing their heads, telling them that help is on the way. They try to prolong their short time together, yet they do not want their children to suffer too long. Many will die together as they have lived together, locked in each others embrace. For they are families in life and in death.

This watery grave cruelly pulls down over 1,200 of them with its deadly fingers. Some wonder, where is God? Others curse; many pray. Despair and pain are written upon the faces of many. Their expressions would give voice to the words applied to the apostle Paul and all those aboard another ship: When neither sun nor stars appeared for may days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved. (Acts 27:20)

Maybe you too have faced situations that seemed hopeless and have given up hope. You may understand the fears of those on the ship with Paul. The apostle offered words of encouragement: But now I urge you to keep up your courage. (v. 22)

How could Paul say this? An angel of God stood beside him (v. 23) and told him of the outcome. That not only infused their courage and strengthened their flagging spirits, but a powerful promise also attended his words. because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. This happened just as the faithful, promise keeping God said that it would. Many swam to safety; others clung to pieces of the ship. All reached land safely. (v. 44)

He is an anchor for your soul in the storms of life. They were shipwrecked, but they all made it (everyone). Do you sometimes feel like your life is a shipwreck? You are just drifting aimlessly along. You are hanging onto the flimsy pieces of your broken dreams. You are bobbing up and down with no direction, like a cork in the ocean of life, and you have nothing solid under your feet.

Well, just as surely as the angel of the Lord stood beside the apostle Paul, He likewise stands beside you. And He will bring you safely to land. Upon your death, when you cross the shore to the other side, He will bring you to Himself, provided you have confessed your sins and have received the free gift of eternal life found in Christ and in Christ alone. This is the blessed hope, and hope keeps you alive. It looks ahead as Christ looked beyond the cross to the glory that He had previously enjoyed with His Father, from the beginning. When you have given up hope, you will not last very long. We all need a fresh portion of hope, a fresh infusion of encouragement, and an injection of grace daily.

Take comfort in this. If you are a Christian, you will not even be able to imagine the joy it will be to one day look into the face and the eyes of Christ, your Master, Redeemer, and Lord—to have Him open His arms to you and to hear those blessed words: "Welcome my son, my daughter. Enter into the joy of the Lord."

For me it will, and I pray also for you that this decision will give hope for the hopeless, hope for every situation in life, hope for the heart. And the blessed hope will sustain you both now and forever. Praise His holy name!

Gary Tomiuck lives in Port Colbrone, Ontario, and attends Grace Community Church in Thorold.