On Our Limits and Our Hope

Martin Gommel via Compfight

Are you worn out by the craziness of this last week? Micah J. Murray posted yesterday on the limits of what we can hold when the freight train of tragedies carried on the boxcars of social media bears down on us. There’s only so much we can process, and our emotions can’t contain the misery and anger of the entire world shot at us in 140 character bullets. It’s so terribly easy to become hopeless and overwhelmed. Then at the end of his piece he shares some thoughts from Jonathan Martin. He helps us to remember that there is a God who has loving intentions for the world.

From Micah’s blog (We don’t usually post such an extended portion of the blogs we share, but this seemed necessary):

There’s a line in Blue Like Jazz where Don talks about how something is broken in the world, and we’re supposed to hold our palms against the wound.

This week we saw so clearly the brokenness, the throbbing wound. Sitting in my empty house, I felt powerless to hold my palms against it. It’s too scary, overwhelming, confusing, far away.

In the face of senseless tragedy, I realize again and again that the veil between life and death is fragile and easily torn.

Boston is bleeding. Texas is bleeding. The Middle East is bleeding.

And I only have these two palms.

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I was almost going to end there, because I have nothing profound to say and I’d rather be silent than dishonest. But then I read these words from Pastor Jonathan at Renovatus, and I thought I’d share them with you because there is hope and he says it better than I can today:

“These days, I have lost all my naive, youthful optimism about the world; I have no childish delusions about the myth of progress. 

And yet I’ve never been so hopeful about the future of the world, because I’ve never been more hopeful about God and His good plans for creation. 

In weeks like this one, optimism will get you nowhere. But hard-edged hope in the Restorer of Creation will get you through the night. 

The world is waiting for the manifestation of the sons & daughters of God. We have to give the world a glimpse in us of the beautiful plans God has for creation, be a marker for what’s to come. 

It’s why we can’t lose heart, even when it’s terribly dark out.”