Hope for Your Heart: Finding Strength in Life's Storms (14 page)

And what about us? When storms swell and threaten to overpower us, do we respond like the Israelites,
fearful and hopeless
, or do we respond like Moses,
fearless and hopeful
? The miraculous exodus of the Israelites from Egypt should serve as a constant reminder to have hope in seemingly hopeless situations, because our all-powerful God is
sovereign
over all and totally is trustworthy.

In Romans chapter 4, the apostle Paul recounts the story of God’s promise of hope to Abraham—God would make him the father of a great nation, with descendants as numerous as the stars.

There was just one problem with this plan—years had passed, and now at age ninety, Sarah was beyond the ability to bear a baby—and at age one hundred, Abraham was beyond the ability to beget a baby! Neither had the capability to conceive a son. Nevertheless, Scripture states:

Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.
⁵

When you feel like your hope in God’s promises is sinking, remember those wonderful phrases: “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed . . . he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God . . . fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.”

There are times when we, too, must hope against hope.

In such times, remember that we serve the same God who delivered on His promise to Abraham and Sarah and so many others. He still keeps His promises.

On the surface, God’s promise seemed beyond belief . . . beyond all hope. Yet even though the fulfillment of this promise looked hopeless . . . “against all hope” . . . Abraham still had hope
in the God of hope
.

The confident hope that Abraham exhibited was not based on
what
was promised but on
who
gave the promise. For indeed what was promised was humanly impossible, but He whogave the promise made it all possible.

The extraordinary reality is this:
The God of the Bible can make the
impossible possible
. Luke 1:37 makes this point crystal clear: “Nothing is impossible with God.” Therein is your
real hope
. And this hope is factual reality, not fanciful thinking.

A Holocaust survivor once inscribed, “I believe in the sun even when it is not shining. I believe in love even when feeling it not. I believe in God even when He is silent.”
⁶

Like a ship’s anchor hidden far beneath the water’s surface, God is at work in our lives even when we don’t see Him . . . even when we can’t hear Him. So when our faith falters, remember, we don’t need to see, we don’t need to hear, we just need to
trust
. Jesus is our Anchor . . . our sovereign Captain . . . securely holding us and overseeing everything that occurs in our lives.

As the psalmist said, “And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you” (Ps. 39:7 esv). And as the wisest man ever to live on this earth said, “When the storm has swept by, the wicked are gone, but the righteous stand firm forever” (Prov. 10:25).

If you ask any mariner, “What is the most important part of a sailboat?” you might get a variety of answers: “A sound hull for staying afloat.” “A mast and a sail for catching the wind.” “A rudder for steering the right direction.”

But to keep the boat upright during a storm, there is one indispensable part . . . the keel. It is unseen and hidden below the surface of the water, but without it a brisk breeze can blow a large sailboat over on its side or force it to stray off course. When sailing in a strong wind, you need a sturdy keel.

On many boats, the keel resembles an upside-down shark’s fin that slices through the water beneath the hull. When a forceful wind on the sail causes the craft to heel, to lean to one side, the keel provides a counterforce that prevents it from flipping over. It also keeps the boat moving forward instead of drifting sideways across the water’s surface.

Finally, the keel gives structural strength to the entire boat, holding it together when the swirling action of wind and waves could tear it apart. Traditional boat builders always begin construction with the keel because of its importance to the ship’s overall design and integrity.

Storms are inevitable in life. But when the winds begin to blow, your hope in the living God is your “keel” to keep you upright and moving in the right direction. Just like a boat’s keel, hope isn’t optional but rather is an essential part of the Creator’s design for your life.

The following prayer from the Bible reflects a heart of hope based on God’s promises: “Sustain me according to your promise, and I will live; do not let my hopes be dashed” (Ps. 119:116).

You may not always feel that hope is at work when blustering waves are battering you on every side. But when your hope is in God, you can know He is holding you together . . . keeping you on course . . . assuring your safety . . . just as He promised.

It was
unthinkable
that the ship could be
sinkable
.
¹
Sixteen watertight compartments would keep
Titanic
afloat
no matter what
!

Most are familiar with the tragic tale of the
Titanic
’s maiden voyage and the nightmare that unfolded in April 1912. The second in a trio of luxury liners, the
Titanic
was designed to glide across the ocean with regal opulence that until then had never been seen.

But just four days after
Titanic
launched from Southampton, England, Captain Smith ignored not one, not two, but
five
ice warnings, deciding not to slow down and proceed with caution but rather to go full steam ahead.

By the time a lookout spotted a formidable iceberg about thirty feet high two hundred yards dead ahead, there was not enough time for the massive ship to steer clear. Colliding with the ship like a razor-sharp diamond, the iceberg slashed a three-hundred-foot-long gash along
Titanic
’s starboard hull.

One researcher noted that even with a damaged hull, the ship could have floated until the rescue ship arrived to save all on board. Instead
Titanic
owner J. Bruce Ismay, son of the founder of the White Star Line, a proud and impatient man, perceived the damage to be minimal. Since the ship’s pumps appeared to be successfully expelling incoming water, Captain Smith ordered, “Engines ahead, half-speed.”
²

How tragic, because “The inescapable conclusion is that
Titanic
’s pumps were swamped by massive amounts of water pushed into the ship by its own forward motion. . . .
Titanic
appears to have steamed itself into a watery North Atlantic grave.”
³

In a matter of minutes the ship’s fragile buoyancy gave way, and its fatal plunge began. What was supposed to be unsinkable . . . indestructible . . . split in two at 2:10 a.m. on April 15, 1912. The ship’s stern rose out of the ocean, and its massive weight caused the ship to splinter. The bow began a gradual descent into the water while the stern settled atop before it too became submerged.

More than 1,500 of the
Titanic
’s estimated 2,200 passengers and crew lost their lives despite the ship’s sixteen lifeboats, capable of saving 1,708 people. Owner J. Bruce Ismay did
not
go down with his ship, having boarded one of the lifeboats. Captain Smith, however, was observed standing on the bridge as the icy Atlantic covered the floor beneath him, then finally covered him.

Today countless people live their lives “full steam ahead” as if unaware that at any given moment they, too, could collide with an “iceberg” and find themselves facing an eternity apart from God.

On April 14, 1912, the world began to associate a new word with a potentially dreaded danger of traveling by sea:
iceberg
.

The word
iceberg
is borrowed from the Dutch word
ijsberg
, which literally means “ice mountain.” An iceberg forms when a large chunk of ice “calves” off, breaking off from the edge of a land-based glacier and falling into the ocean. Ranging from five feet to 650 feet across, icebergs can tower above the icy water to heights of 250 feet or more and can weigh as much as two hundred thousand tons.

But the visible portion of an iceberg doesn’t pose the greatest threat to ships. As mountainous as one may appear to cautious mariners, only 10 percent of an iceberg’s total size can be seen. Not only does nine-tenths of a floating iceberg stay hidden beneath the waves, but its underwater shape is also impossible to predict due to differences in density between glacial ice and seawater. Therefore, steering a ship close to an iceberg is much too risky.

That’s why the phrase, “It’s just the tip of the iceberg” is a warning that something is deceptively dangerous. In other words:
Beware
—
there
is far more here than meets the eye!

When traveling the treacherous waters on your own journey, how can you be sure that the problems you see on the horizon aren’t actually ten times larger? You need more than a little human help—you really need God-sized help.

How can you be certain where the real dangers lie? How can you make sure you steer clear without needlessly traveling too far away? The answer is:
You
can’t
. There will always be unseen perils in your path. No amount of wishful thinking or blind self-reliance will ever change that.

Your hope needs to be placed in the One who sees all . . . the One who knows all. Notice how the Bible describes this One: “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”
⁴

Seek Him . . . ask Him and trust Him to reveal the “icebergs” in your path that could be catastrophic, that could tear your heart open and capsize your life. Put your hope in Him.

The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him. (Lam. 3:25)

Among the passengers on that first and final voyage of
Titanic
was forty-year-old John Harper, an English pastor, traveling to speak at Chicago’s Moody Church.

After the ship struck the iceberg and began to sink,
Titanic
owner J. Bruce Ismay helped others into the lifeboats; then he, too, boarded one. By contrast, Harper secured his six-year-old daughter, Nana, in a lifeboat but apparently made no effort to follow. Instead he called through the crowded deck, “Women, children, and unsaved into the lifeboats!”

Survivors report that Harper began witnessing to anyone within hearing. He continued sharing Christ even after he had jumped into the icy water while clinging to a piece of wreckage, having already given his lifejacket to another man.

Harper’s final moments were recounted four years later:

I am a survivor of the
Titanic
. When I was drifting alone on a spar that awful night, the tide brought Mr. Harper, also on a piece of wreck, near me.

“Man,” he said, “are you saved?”

“No,” I said, “I am not.”

He replied, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.”

The waves bore him away, but, strange to say, brought him back a little later, and he said, “Are you saved now?”

“No,” I said, “I cannot honestly say that I am.”

He said again, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved,” and shortly after, he went down; and there, alone in the night, and with two miles of water under me, I believed. I am John Harper’s last convert.
⁶

This man was one of only six people picked out of the water by the lifeboats; the other 1,517, including Harper, were left to die. Harper staked his life on this biblical truth stated by Jesus Himself:

Whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. (Mark 8:35 esv)