If we are willing, there is hope!

There is a poignant scene in the Terminator 2 movie in which John Connor, who is about 10 years old, makes a somber observation about human nature. He is speaking with the Terminator and they are watching two young children play. The behaviors of the children reveal something troublesome about human nature. Their exchange goes like this:

 

John Connor: [pensive] We’re not gonna’ make it, are we? …People, I mean?

Terminator: It’s in your nature to destroy yourselves.

John Connor: Yeah, major drag, huh?

 

Sometimes, when I look around and consider the things people do and say, when I think about the positions people are taking on issues and the way we are treating each other, I can almost start to feel like young John Connor. And, believe it or not, I tend to be a fairly optimistic person. (Especially if this post is not the primary factor in making that determination.)

John’s sentiment seems plausible: “We’re not gonna’ make it, are we? …People, I mean?”

Fortunately, my faith in Christ and my acknowledgement of the Bible as an authoritative source of truth, bring me hope. I write the previous sentence sincerely and seriously.

Obviously, I do not know in a specific way how the future will unfold. I do not know how good it will be or how bad it will be.

But I know it is possible to live with hope and not despair.

Please consider this passage:

“We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed….

“…That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.” 

2 Corinthians 4:8-9 and 16-18

If we are willing to see it, if we are willing to seek Him, there is hope!