Jesus Our Hope

As we’re bombarded with information about the physical symptoms and responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s just as important to consider our mental and spiritual health in the midst of these unprecedented times. As a trauma therapist for the last 14 years, I know that it’s impossible to separate out the physical toll of a trauma from the emotional and spiritual. We cannot pluck our soul out for a moment or hit a pause button on our mental health. The aspects of our nature are interwoven and when we care for all three of these facets, we move from a mode of surviving to one of thriving.

There’s a scene in the movie Batman Begins that has come to my mind over the past several days. I have always found it inspiring and even more so in the present crisis. Bruce Wayne had not yet become Batman. He had gotten himself locked up in prison to learn how to fight crime. In this particular scene, a big guy who often torments Bruce comes up to him to instigate a fight once again. He says to him, “You are in Hell, Little Man and I am the devil.” Bruce responds, “You’re not the devil. You’re practice.” Bruce used what he learned through those trying days as training.  We can do the same.

The demands of these times are difficult, but I believe they are a gift if we chose to embrace them. Franklin D. Roosevelt said, “A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor”. This time can be a living hell or it can be practice, the lessons of which we can take forward into whatever the future holds. The circumstances of our lives have changed, but God is good ALL THE TIME.  We do not hope in particular outcomes from Him.  Rather, we drop anchor in Him.  He is love.  He is good.  He is for us.  Let's not cling to our limited view of how this ought to play out.  Let's surrender our hope for certain outcomes and cling to hope in Jesus.  That hope will never disappoint.

Peace and good.

Margaret