Hope Is a Strategy
Over the last few months, I've had several conversations with people who have walked away from or are seriously questioning their faith in Christ. The one consistent reason in all of these conversations? Hurt.
Every single one has pointed to being hurt by the church, by another professing believer, by their Christian college, by an ex-spouse who claimed to follow Jesus. And the list goes on.
I get it. We've all been hurt.
For years, I used hurt as the reason for not submitting to Christ. But then I had to come to a realization, it was just that, a reason, an excuse. The reality was that I did not want to submit my life to Christ. I wanted to be sovereign over my own life; the hurt was just a convenient crutch I could use to justify why I would not surrender.
Building on Shifting Sand
As long as humans roam this planet, there will be hurt. We will be victims of it and, unfortunately, at times, the ones who cause it. As the late Bob Dowie often said, "The best of men are mere men."
When we build our life based on faith in people, even good Christian people, we're building on shifting sand. People will disappoint us. Leaders will fail. Friends will betray us. Even the most sincere believers will let us down because they're human, broken, and a work in progress, just like we are.
But this is precisely why our hope cannot rest in people. Our hope for a fulfilling life must rest in the One who never changes, never fails, and never disappoints.
The Unchanging Christ
The writer of Hebrews declares, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." He is the one constant in a world of variables. While people change, circumstances shift, and promises get broken, Christ remains steadfast.
This is where real hope is found. Not in wishful thinking, but in a confident expectation. The biblical concept of hope isn't crossing your fingers and wishing for the best. This word carries the meaning of anxious anticipation based on certainty. It's the kind of hope that expects something because you know it's coming.
This hope doesn't disappoint because it's rooted in God's unchanging character, not in human performance or any of life's many ups and downs.
Hope as Your Strategy
I know that trials, disappointment, hurt, and failures will continue in my life, but when I consider how I will work through them, the answer is simple . . . a strategy of hope. Not passive wishing, but active, confident expectation in who Christ is and what He's promised.
Going back to Hebrews, we read that hope is "an anchor for the soul, firm and secure." When the storms come, and they will, when people fail you, and they will, your anchor isn't in their behavior. It's in Christ's unchanging nature.
This is why Paul could write in Romans, "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."
Our hope overflows not because circumstances are perfect or people are faithful, but because God is trustworthy.
Don't Let People Define Your Faith
Here's what I wish I could tell every person who's walked away from faith because of hurt: you're letting imperfect people define your view of a perfect Savior. You're allowing someone's poor representation of Christ to blur the truth about who He actually is, and you are limiting all that life has to offer.
Yes, the church has hurt people. Yes, Christians have failed spectacularly. Yes, there's hypocrisy, brokenness, and disappointment in every corner of the body of Christ and humanity at large. But none of that changes who Jesus is.
He is still the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is still faithful when we are faithless. He is still good when everything around us is falling apart. He is still worthy of our trust even when His followers aren't.
The Confident Hope
So when hurt comes, when disappointment strikes, when people let you down, remember this: your hope isn't in them. The key to a joy-filled, vibrant life is in Christ, who never changes, never fails, and never disappoints.
Don't build your life on the shifting sands of human performance. Build it on the rock of Christ's unchanging character. That's where true hope (the best strategy) is found.
Running the race with you,
Carlos
P.S. I have had many ask about a Life Design Curriculum they could use to apply Life Design at their own pace. In response, we just launched our first Life Design course that is self-paced this week. If you want to check it out, you can learn more here.
This edition was first published in The Life Design Newsletter on LinkedIn.