The teachings and dealings of Jesus were filled with hope. Indeed the underpinnings of His message are founded in the wellspring of hope. His name can barely be said without being accompanied with thoughts of hope, assurances of hope. We love it that the scriptures refer to Him as hope. For He is the Christ, our Savior, our Lord, our King, our Master, and our Hope.
Think for a moment about Noah, already on the ark for months. As he looked across the horizon, all that he could see was water. The evening sun sinks into it; the dawning sun rises from it. The noonday sun and the clouds reflect on it. His ark is surrounded by it. Water everywhere: water to the north, water to the south, water to the east, water to the west. As far as Noah could see in any direction, water.
He can’t remember seeing anything different. He and his family had barely
pushed the last hippo up the ramp when the heavens opened up Niagara Falls. Shortly thereafter the boat rocked, and for days the rain poured, and for weeks Noah wondered, “How long is this going to last?” For forty days it rained. For months they floated. For months they had eaten the same food, smelled the same smell, and looked at the same faces. After a certain point it would seem natural they'd run out of things to say to each other.
Finally the boat bumped, and the rocking stopped. Noah’s wife gave him a look, and Noah gave the hatch a shove and poked his head through. The hull of the ark was resting on ground, but the ground was still surrounded by water. “Noah,” she yelled up at him, “what do you see?”
“Water.”
So Noah sent a raven on a scouting mission; it never returned. He sent a dove. It came back shivering and spent, having found no place to roost. Then just this
morning, he tried again. He pulled a dove out of the bowels of the ark and ascended the ladder. The morning sun caused them both to squint. As he kissed the breast of the bird, he felt a pounding heart. Had he put his hand on his own chest, he would have felt another. With a prayer he let it go and watched until the bird was no larger than a speck in the sky.
All the day he looked for the dove’s return. In between feeding and cleaning up after the animals he opened the hatch and searched. He did some more cleaning and repairs to fill the day. He even climbed into the crow’s-nest to take a look and scan the horizon. The wind lifted his gray hair. The sun warmed his weather-beaten face. But nothing lifted his heavy heart. He had seen nothing. Not in the morning. Not after lunch. Not later.
Now the sun was setting, and the sky was darkening, and he had come to look one final time, but all he saw was water. Water to the north, water to the south, water to the east, water to the west.
We know that feeling. We've stood where Noah stood. We’ve known our share of floods. Flooded by sorrow at the cemetery, stress at the office, anger at the infirmity in our bodies, discouraged at the shortcomings of our spouses, upset with the follies of our children. We’ve seen the floodwater rise, and we’ve likely seen the sun set on many of our hopes and dreams as well. Yes, we’ve been on Noah’s boat.
And we’ve needed what Noah needed; we’ve needed some hope. We’re not asking for a helicopter rescue, but the sound of one would be nice. Hope doesn’t promise an instant solution but rather the possibility of an eventual one. Sometimes all we need is just a little hope.
That’s all Noah needed. And that’s all Noah received.
The old prophet sailor stared at the sun, bisected by the horizon. He could hardly imagine a more beautiful sight. But he’d give this landscape (minus the land) and a hundred more for an acre of dry ground and a garden of produce. From below, down in the ark, his wife reminded him that dinner was on the table and that he should lock the hatch. He was just about to call it a day when he hears the cooing of a dove. Not just any dove, but THE dove! Here is how scripture describes the moment: “And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf plucked off” (Gen. 8:11).
An olive leaf. Noah would have been happy to just have the bird back, but to have the leaf? This leaf was more than just foliage; this leaf was promise! The bird brought more than just a piece of a tree; it brought hope! Isn’t that what hope is? Hope is an olive leaf – evidence of dry land after a flood. Proof to the dreamer that reaming is worth it.
Don’t we love the olive leaves of life? “It appears the cancer may be in remission.” “I can help you with those finances.” “We’ll get through this together.” “I can help you with that.”
What’s more, don’t we love the doves that bring them? When a father walks his son through his first broken heart, he gives him an olive leaf. When the wife of many years consoles the wife of a few months, and she tells her that conflicts come and all husbands are moody and these storms pass, you know what she’s doing? She’s giving an olive leaf. When the mom kisses the ‘owie’ better and gently puts on a bandage, she’s offering an olive leaf.
We love olive leaves. And we love those who give them. Perhaps that’s the reason we love Jesus. He gives hope.
The Dove of Heaven offers leaves of hope.
He does it for Martha. She is drowning in a sea of sorrow. Her brother is dead. His body has been buried. And Jesus is late in coming to her – her brother had died four days earlier. Then said Martha unto Jesus, “Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.” Then she might have paused. “But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee” (John 11:21-22). As Noah opened his hatch, so Martha opened her heart. As the dove brought a leaf, so Christ brings hope.
Jesus said unto her, “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?” She saith unto him, “Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world” (John 11:25-27).
How could He offer these words? Who was He to make these kinds of claims? What qualified Him to offer grace and the promise of resurrection? Simple. He had done what the dove did. He had traveled the shoreline of the future land and journeyed among the trees. And from the grove of grace He plucked a leaf. From the tree of life He pulled a sprig for Martha.
And He brings leaves to us. Grace and life. Forgiveness of sin. The defeat of death. This is the hope He gives. This is the hope we need.
To all the Noahs of the world, to all who search the horizon for a fleck of hope, He proclaims, “Yes! There is hope!” And He comes. He comes as a dove. He comes bearing fruit from a distant land.
It’s fruit from our future home. He comes with leaves of hope. And He freely offers them to all.
Have you received yours? Don’t think that your ark is too isolated. Don’t think that your flood is too wide or too deep, or that you have been drifting in a sea of despair for too long. Our perspective is very limited.
What kinds of things do we hope for? We hope to be understood and to understand. We hope for love – to be loved, and to have someone to love. We hope to be listened to. To have purpose. To make a difference. We hope for peace. To belong, to have a friend, a trusted confident. We hope for protection, for success, for health. We hope to make ends meet. We hope for better tomorrows. We hope for the storm to subside, for the rain to quench the drought, for the sun to warm away the chill. We hope for a second chance, and sometimes a third, and sometimes a fourth. We hope to be forgiven and to forgive. We hope to forget some things and to remember some others. We hope to be honorable, to have integrity, to be respected. We hope that all the injustices in the in the world will be made right, someday. We hope for the Son to come again, in His glory this time. We hope a lot. We would do well to remember to direct our thoughts and desires for hope toward The Source of all hope. If you will, The Author of Hope, the Lord Jesus Christ. And even with this understanding, our perspective is still limited, in our humanness we’re fragile.
Well, God has a better perspective. With all due respect, our severest struggles are, in His view, elementary. Spilt milk. Not that He would belittle them. Only that He has infinite understanding and insight. He is not confounded, confused or discouraged. His thinking is different than ours, better than ours, more sophisticated, more dynamic: "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts" (Isa. 55:8-9).
God sees the 'big picture', He understands what’s best for us, He knows the end from the beginning - He knows everything: "O how great the holiness of our God! For he knoweth all things, and there is not anything save he knows it" (2 Ne. 9:20). Whatever the question, whatever the concern, He knows the answer. That is an olive leaf! He knows the solution to all of our troubles, all of our pains, all of our concerns. Olive leaves on the left, olive leaves on the right.
All of our fears, all disappointments, our discouragements, and heartaches. Olive leaves to the north, olive leaves to the south, olive leaves to the east, and olive leaves to the west. How easily we forget, "...with God all things are possible" (Matt. 19:26). Olive leaves starboard, olive leaves port. God gives hope - olive leaves for the past and olive leaves for the future, "...for the Lord will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rearward" (Isa. 52:12). Just as all that Noah could see was water, we should see olive leaves – olive leaves in virtual 360 HDTV with surround sound! Because God offers hope like a watershed, "Wherefore, all things which are good cometh of God" (Moro. 7:12). Just as the heavens poured like Niagara to lift Noah’s family safely out of the flood, so does God shower down olive leaves of hope to help us navigate through the storms of life until we too arrive safely at our heavenly home.
We need to learn to better receive His hope. We should receive it because we need it. And we should receive it so we can share it.
What do you suppose Noah did with his? What do you think he did with the leaf delivered from the dove? Did he throw it overboard and forget about it? Do you suppose he stuck it in his pocket and saved it for his journal? Or do you think that he cried out with enthusiastic joy, and assembled all on board to pass it around like the Hope Diamond it was? (Isn’t it interesting that the most valuable, most famous gem on the planet is named the ‘Hope’ Diamond!?!).
Certainly he cried out joyously! Certainly he passed it around to everyone on the boat. Certainly every passenger shed tears of joy and praised the God of Heaven! That’s what we do with hope. What should we do with the olive leaves extended to us? We should pass them around! Not stick them in our pockets. We should give them to the ones we love. Love always hopes! “Charity …beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things” (1 Cor. 13:4-7).
Love gives hope to others. Love does that. Love extends an olive leaf to the loved one and says, “I have hope in you – I believe in you!” Love is just as quick to say, “I have hope for you!”
We can say those words. Why? Because we are flood survivors. We should all have tees shirts made up that say, "I Survived THE Flood." By God’s grace we have found our way to dry land. We know what it’s like to see the waters subside. And since we do – since we've passed through floods and lived to tell about them – we're qualified to give hope to someone else.
Each of us has been through a trial or two. There’s someone else that is going through a similar trial that needs to hear from us. Our experiences have deputized us into the dove brigade. We have an opportunity – yes, even an obligation – to give hope to someone else still on the ark. Someone wondering if there is any dry land out there. Someone hoping against hope, that their hope isn't in vain. Praying and pleading that a dove will bring them an olive leaf.
We will never be in a position to repay the Savior for all that He has done for us. But we can express our appreciation. One way to do that is to perpetuate the hope that He gives us. Pass it on. Pay it forward. Lift another, impart of our substance, feed the hungry, clothe the naked. Visit the sick, hearten the downhearted, encourage the inexperienced, strengthen the weary. Inspire the physically, emotionally and spiritually worn. Reach out, lift up, and give love to the widows and widowers, the fatherless and the motherless.
When it seems all is lost, there’s no relief in sight, you’re out of options, down to the last penny, the final breath, the last straw. When it seems like you’re out of time, out of patience, out of luck, with no where to turn, no where to go, no more options. If you’re lost, with no relief, no respite, no way out.
When it seems that despair is the order of the day, don't despair, there is something, a glimmer of light. There is always hope. Always Hope! ALWAYS! And we believe that is by design, part of The Plan. It is divinely inspired, divinely implemented, and divinely divine. It is with singular purpose – to intentionally draw us, direct us, and guide us to Hope. Or more specifically, to Him, The Source of All Hope, The Master of Hope, The God of Hope – The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of Israel. The God of Noah. Your God and my God. He is The Only True God. He is Good. He is God. He is The Good God of Hope.
Will you share some hope? Share an olive leaf? They have an amazing impact. After receiving his, Noah was a changed man: “…so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth” (Gen. 8:11). He went up the ladder with some heavy questions and came down the ladder with undeniable confidence. That God lives. That God has a plan. That God is in control. That even when it appears that we have no where to turn, no hope to harbor, no dry land, no home, He will not forsake us! He will not, and has not left us alone. He has not forgotten us. He is hope, and He loves us. So, won’t you share some hope? Do so in honor and gratitude for our Savior Jesus Christ – the Hope of mankind. And whenever it seems that hope is lost, know that it is not lost at all – it was found a little over two thousand years ago, in Bethlehem, in a stable, in a manger as there was no room in the inn. Hope was found, wrapped in swaddling clothes. Hope, the firstborn son of Mary, and the Only Begotten Son of the Father.
He lives. He is the Son of God. He is the light and life of the world. Just as He is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, He is our Hope of Hopes! He will guide us, comfort us, and provide for us through the storms of life. The Leader of our ship – He is the “Captain of our Salvation” (Heb. 2:10). He is our Savior and Redeemer. For “…there is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God" (2 Ne. 31:21). Now that is hope! We testify in His name that it is so.
May we all feel the love of the Savior and the hope that comes from His love every single day. Know that we love you!
Ramblings in California - Wm. Calvin Hughes
December 2009
(Excerpts of Noah analogy from “A Love Worth Giving” – Max Lucado)
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