If your resolution has hit some bumps in the road, don’t give up hope!
(and yes, I have mirror). From hunger to war, grown-ups need to be better adults! Thousands die from war and random gun violence, millions die of malnutrition, and millions more remain in poverty, unable to escape or rise above the conditions of their birth.
It gets better.
If Paul tells us that we hope in what we cannot see, Rosling is saying, “Look, look back and look at the reality then and now so that we can find hope for the next millennium, the next century, the next generation, the next decade, the next day, in the bits of progress that are becoming reality.” Rosling is criticized for an overly optimistic view. However, read carefully, “Factfulness,” is an invitation to let small change give us the hope of what we dream but cannot see and spur us forward in hope.
The condition of the world for our children is terrible, in places, horrifically apocalyptically catastrophic. In those places, we must intervene with immediate resolutions of food, water, peace. Peace. Peace.
The Christian response
and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.” Mark 8: 35
You probably made a resolution that involves letting go of something. Don’t give up. Letting go is a spiritual discipline. Add to your resolve the prayer of hope, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” Philippians 4: 13 This prayer glorifyies God in all things, and proclaims the gospel in all circumstances. Here’s Paul’s situation:
“I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned for me but had no opportunity to show it. Not that I am referring to being in need, for I have learned to be content with whatever I have. I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need.” Phil 4: 10-12
Images: “Gaza-boys-fenced-in” by AlphaBetaUnlimited is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0. ; “Peace on Selby Avenue” by sarahkarnas is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.