Hope’s Thread

A few days ago I shared with my oldest son how hard it was sometimes to hold on to hope when hope itself seems to be so fragile and hanging by a thread. His wonderful response was, “Dad, remember Who’s holding the other end of the thread.”

I shared this with a friend who spun from it a further application. With her permission I share her thoughts here thinking that those whose grasp of hope is tenuous at best might be encouraged by her words.

I was thinking about what you said about hanging on by a thread right now. You came to mind this morning when I was thinking about John 10:10 “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

Jesus said that was His reason for coming. And we know that His reasons are never thwarted. Not by exhaustion. Not by frustration. Not by fear. Not by violence. They just are not thwarted.

But I also realized that He didn’t say that he came to give us an easy life to the fullest. Part of life is suffering. I know He was talking at least in part about eternal life, but that’s not what He said. He said “life”—and that includes the now.

So, I think what this means is that even in the now, He is with you. Giving you life to the fullest. If he wasn’t at the end of that thread—which to be honest, I picture to be one of those thick, heavy ropes used for anchoring cruise ships to the deck—there wouldn’t be life to the fullest. But because He is there, in the midst of our fullest suffering, we can also have our fullest hope. And that hope is in the promise that He made. He’s not going to let go.