Make Sure Your Hope Is In The Right Person

Admit it, 2020 was a dumpster fire.

From fires to floods, to COVID, to US riots, to the US Presidential Election and shenanigans that followed, there was a lot that “tried men’s souls” during the year.

People cried out for help from a myriad of people just as Princess Leia cried out, “Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you’re my only hope.”

Most of us can still hear the blurry and bluish hologram speaking these words in the original Star Wars.

This call for help captures Luke’s imagination. He had no idea who she was. Was this Obi-Wan the crazy old Ben Kenobi?

The desire for answers to these questions drove Luke down a path that kicked off one of the great movie franchises of all time.

As we are going through these rough times as a nation, Americans are looking for hope as well.

Leia’s Hope Was In A Man She Hardly Knew

We are not far into the movie when we finally hear the whole message that R2D2 has in his “rusty innards”.

General Kenobi, years ago you served my father in the Clone Wars. Now he begs you to help him in his struggle against the Empire. I regret that I am unable to present my father’s request to you in person, but my ship has fallen under attack and I’m afraid my mission to bring you to Alderaan has failed. I have placed information vital to the survival of the Rebellion into the memory systems of this R2 unit. My father will know how to retrieve it. You must see this droid safely delivered to him on Alderaan. This is our most desperate hour. Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi, you’re my only hope.

As you can see from her message, Leia has no firsthand knowledge of what Ben was able to do. She relied on what her father had told her about him.

Many people see this as our most desperate hour and are searching for hope.

People today have little to no firsthand knowledge of the candidates. We have only what the media and the spin doctors for the campaign tell us. Yet people are clinging to the hope that one candidate or another will bring us hope and change.

American Christians Are In Danger

Many American Christians are in danger of putting their hopes in the wrong person.

Christians, including myself, are rightly concerned about the direction of our country.

"Where is the hope? I meet millions of people who feel demoralized by the decay around us. The hope that each of us has is not in who governs us, or what laws we pass, or what great things we do as a nation. Our hope is in the power of God working through the hearts of people. And that’s where our hope is in this country. And that’s where our hope is in life.~Chuck Colson"

The problem is, no one on the ballot is perfect. Christians are putting their hope in an imperfect candidate as being the one to turn our country around and make it great again.

While we as Americans need to vote, that is not the best course of action.

So what are we to do? The simplest and most effective thing for us to do is pray.

We can’t put our hope for this nation in either candidate.

We need to live out the Great Commission and make disciples out of all people. As disciples of Jesus, we will have the power of God working in our hears and the hearts of others.

Who or what is your “only hope”?

In 1 Timothy 1:1 we read “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope”.

Paul opens up his letter to Timothy by declaring that Jesus Christ is our hope- both personally and for this world.

If we make Jesus our only hope, He will lead us on a journey that will change our lives and will bring about the greatest adventure we can possibly know.

We know from James 4:14 that “For [we] are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” Life and all things in it are temporary.

The Struggle

To be brutally honest, I struggle to make Jesus my only hope.

I stress out about the new administration’s policies and the laws they will push on us.

I hope for someone to rise up and lead our country with policies more consistent with the original words and beliefs of the US Consitution and in line with the Bible.

I am also putting my hope and trust in my own abilities. It’s up to me to earn money in order to provide for myself and my family. Or if things in the country deteriorate like I think they will, I’ll trust in martial arts training to be safe and secure.

It’s naive of me to think so. But I do think about it; from time to time.

I think we are all like Leia at times. She put her trust in a former general in Jedi Knight, based on what he did years ago. She had no firsthand knowledge of what he did. She knew that "years ago you serve my father in the clone wars".