You're Not a Fool to Keep Hoping, Part 3

Puritan Thomas Brooks ministers to the church when he reminds us that just one hour into heaven, and everything will make sense. We'll realize we were not fools for standing up for the truth and for living with biblical hope. This post concludes our three-part series on why you're not a fool to keep hoping for God to do a great work in your children's lives, even when you don't see the results. It's also relevant for any disappointed or disaffected Christian whose prayers haven't yet been answered. Please read  Part 1 and Part 2 to fully understand the context. These three posts will comprise one chapter in my work-in-progress, "When Christian Parents Hurt." As always, I welcome all constructive criticism for any of these posts. As it's a work in progress, I can consider and incorporate your thoughts. (My book coming out this fall actually quotes--by name--a couple of Substack reviewers who added some sterling insight.)

---

What God Promises to Do

While we see a world in rebellion, calling evil good and good evil, we can find hope in that glorious day when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. One day, your child will see that your faith in Jesus is true and well-placed. They will acknowledge that what you are saying right now is true.

That day is coming. It is certain, and it will be glorious.

This is the “certainty” behind hope that moves it well past wishful thinking, making it almost the opposite.

My wife isn’t a fan of sports, though I’ve loved watching them throughout my life. When our kids were young, I spent a Sunday afternoon taking them out and playing with them, taping the Seahawks game on the DVR (which shows how long ago this was) to watch later. While the kids were napping, I put the game in. The Seahawks were ahead by seventeen points early in the fourth quarter so I was in a good mood until my wife came downstairs and innocently asked, “Oh, is it overtime yet?”

“What???”

“Is it overtime yet?”

“Why would you tell me it goes into overtime?"

“I just thought I could save you some time.”

“If I wanted to save time, I’d call up a friend and ask him the score.”

I desperately clung to a tiny bit of doubt because, hey, they were up by 17 points and it was the fourth quarter. But I also knew it was the Seahawks, and they have proven themselves capable of blowing a lead like that. And they did. Watching it unfold, already knowing the end, was brutal.

Hope is like a Seahawks game in reverse. We have the good news of a victory up front. Jesus wins, decisively. No matter how hopeless it may seem, the end is assured.

This knowledge of Christ’s future victory fueled Paul’s life and prayers, even as the world meted out cruelty, persecution, and slander: “Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58).