There is Always Hope

Yesterday I had a clerk at the deli strike up a conversation about a shirt I was wearing. It led to a discussion of Zimbabwe. I told here of the deplorable condition of their country, the world-record inflation, the cholera epidemic, and the lack of basic food and supplies. I communicated to her that most people in America cannot even imagine the level of poverty in Zimbabwe right now. Then she asked me a haunting question. “Is there any hope for them?”

Is there any hope? The political answer would be: yes, but only with a regime change and massive assistance from the outside to revive their economy. But this is not the answer that came to mind. Yes there is hope, but it will not come from the opposition government or the United Nations, or the African Union. Their hope will only be found in turning to Jesus. Their hunger, inflation, shortage of goods and food can be fixed by human methods, but this does nothing for their greater problem. Zimbabwe’s greatest need is the same as the greatest need of people in Mongolia, or Columbia, or Slovenia, or the United States. They need a savior. Is there any hope for them? Yes. Is there any hope for us? Yes. But it will not be found in a leader, an army, or a philosophy. It will only be found in Christ Jesus. In Him there is hope.
“For you are my hope, O Lord God…” Psalm 71:5