Hope ... the Best of Things
Hope ... the Best of Things
Ron is a former pastor who broke his neck in a motorcycle accident. His wife had contacted me, distraught that Ron had given up and sunk into deep depression. For weeks he had been lying in a dark bedroom, not wanting any visitors. As a pastor, Ron probably knew more Scripture than I did. I talked with him, but after an hour of conversation, it was clear to me that Ron was not responding. And so, I took a different tact. I asked him, “Did you see the movie The Shawshank Redemption?” He seemed surprised at my question, but he told me that he had. I continued: “Remember when Andy Duphrane said to his fellow prisoner, ‘Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies ... so get busy living, or get busy dying.’” Ron was quiet for a long moment. I said, “Ron, I want you to join me and 15,000 other quadriplegics in America this morning who are deciding to get out of bed and get busy living. Would you do that with me?” Finally, he said softly, “Maybe hope is a good thing.”
I invited Ron and his family to one of our Family Retreats. Once Ron saw other quads in wheelchairs moving forward into life and trusting God with their circumstances, hope seemed to grow in his heart. He was experiencing the reality of Romans 15:13, “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” [italics mine].
Ron was trusting God with hope that had seemed impossible just weeks earlier. What a difference it made for Ron to be around others who were hanging onto God and “getting busy living!” That dark bedroom had been suffocating what hope Ron had; but at Family Retreat, with others like him, he could see the possibilities in living his life for God’s glory.
Despair and depression dissipate when we trust in “the God of hope.” And it always helps when we keep company with hopeful people—courage can’t help but breed more courage. The result? Ron and his wife returned to Family Retreat the following year to serve new families who were struggling. There they were, passing on hope to others!
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