Two good friends reminded me of an important truth this weekend.
Everyone needs hope, and a lot of people don’t know where to find it.
Since we began the journey of RICH’S RIDE I’ve talked to social workers, therapists, doctors, pastors, prison workers, pastors, mental health professionals, and addiction specialists. These folks work with people who face all sorts of challenges to which there’s no simple solution. Problems like hunger, poverty, and homelessness are as complex and individual as the people they impact.
But every helping professional agrees—hope allows people to endure and even thrive in unspeakable hardship. When people have hope they’ll keep going even when they confront apparently insurmountable adversity.
The reverse is also true. Hopelessness is a certain path to giving up. When people lose hope, their spirit begins to die. I’ve been there. Hopeless is not a place anyone should live.
I believe hope can be shared. In fact, that was the simple vision that inspired this whole crazy project.
SHARE HOPE!
Let’s be clear, because our culture uses the word “hope” in some odd ways. You might hope to win the lottery, but that’s really a wish. It’s fun to wish upon a star, but authentic hope isn’t based on luck or chance.
Hope is a confident expectation based on faith that God keeps His promises.
Hope looks to a certain future because it’s based on the solid rock of a faithful God. That’s the message every struggling, hurting person needs to hear.
Hope is universal. It’s the message we’ll share as we crank from TAOS TO TUCSON.
But you don’t have to ride a bike through the desert to share hope. We all know someone on the edge of hopelessness. Maybe it’s a friend, coworker, family member, neighbor—we all know someone who’s not sure it’s worth the fight.
You don’t need magic words or formulas to share hope. You can let them know you care, that they’re not alone, that you’re willing to walk the path with them for as long as it takes.
I know—it’d be easier to just fix things, but that’s not how God works.
It’s Monday. Let’s share hope.
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