Hope

It seems like lately more and more I'm having conversations with people about their "take" on the Presidential Election we recently had here in the United States.

It's amazing to me me how divided the conversations have been. Some are absolutely ecstatic that their candidate was elected and others are so down in the dumps you'd think the world was going to end tomorrow (which it could by the way, but not due to anything man can conjure up, that's for sure...but that's a whole other topic).

Anyway, my mind keeps going back to one of the countries that I was blessed to spend time in and one of the most fascinating times that I can recall where the question of "In whom does your hope lie?" was posed everywhere I went. I think this is a crucial question that we all need to come to grips with no matter who is Commander in Chief.


The article is called "Hope" and was written a few years ago...

I recently returned from an extensive teaching, preaching and training trip to Ukraine, which is a place that I have become very familiar with over the last few years.

It’s a place that I always enjoy returning to, and a place that connects with me, and impacts me in different ways every time without fail!

My latest trip to Ukraine was just as amazing as the other times, but as I reflect on some of the reasons why, I keep thinking about a theme that kept recurring in my mind as I was there.

The theme that kept popping up everywhere I went was a question…”In whom does my hope lie?”

Maybe it was the vast Eastern Orthodox Cathedrals that I visited, or the Immense World War 2 Museum or the memories of the Orange revolution that took place five years ago in the very square where I was standing.

At first I wasn’t totally sure what made this theme emerge in my mind, but I know when it became vividly clear to me that God was trying to get my attention through it.

I was taking a tour through the World War 2 museum in Kiev, and was so intrigued by the war from the Soviet perspective that I found myself trying to "get in the shoes" of the people, places and events that I was learning about. In fact the whole different perspective idea became very obvious to me when I realized that they call the war “The Great Patriotic War” instead of World War 2…interesting.

Well, as we walked through the museum, which is actually in the base of this incredibly huge statue of the Motherland, complete with shield, sword and hammer and sickle. I kept realizing that these people have faced so much pain, evil and intense atrocities over the years, that I can’t even begin to understand.

I passed through a room that told the story of the Nazi occupation of Ukraine, and the incredible hardships the people had to endure. Years and years of pain and suffering that led to uprising and what they call “The Great Patriotic War.”

As I moved from room to room, and tried to feel what they felt and let it really sink in, I entered a room that was dedicated to the remembrance of what it was like for the people when it seemed that there was no hope. I came face to face with the theme that God wanted me to wrestle with on this trip and beyond.

I saw a picture of a woman fearfully peering between barbed wire, and the caption beneath the picture said in Russian “Our hope is in you RED ARMY.”

As soon as this was translated to me, I stopped dead in my tracks, and thought about that statement.

Now I’m not judging or condemning anyone, but as I thought about that and tried to process what extreme desperation and hopelessness must feel like, I thought to myself “how incredibly sad, it must be to have our hope in man, weapons and machines.”

Then I started to think about some other times I’ve seen this mindset in people when I’ve visited Ukraine in the past.


In 2004, I was visiting during a period of time known as the “Orange Revolution”. It was a time when Millions across Ukraine stood up for truth and Justice leading up to the election of the new President. Their hope was being placed on a man who would bring freedom and prosperity to this often oppressed people.

So, for several months a peaceful demonstration, in the form of a tent city was erected in the center square of Kiev, and people were overjoyed at the hope of a new day once President Yushenko took office.

I was in attendance at his inauguration speech, and as I joined with what seemed like millions gathered in the center square I was in awe of the peace, reverence and respect that I observed. I really had the sense that the new day these people had been waiting for had arrived.

There was a song that was at the top of the charts in Ukraine during that time, it was a song that became the theme of the orange revolution, and everywhere I went I heard it loudly and proudly being played. The song was called “Razom Nas Bahato” which means “Together we are many”.

Take a look at this video clip, and notice the hope and joy that the people have as they gather, stand up, and proclaim their freedom.

That was 2004, hope was high, freedom and prosperity were right around the corner, they could feel it, they could taste it…it was in their sights.

Fast forward to 2009, I’m teaching Youth Culture to College Freshman from all over Ukraine, we get to the section where we talk about fads, trends and other symbols that help us understand what effects teens, and why.

I opened up the discussion telling the students about a time when I was in attendance at a President's inauguration and heard an awesome song, that I downloaded and played all the time on my mp3 player when I got home.

The song was so moving to me especially when I realized the deep lyrics and inspirational message that it conveyed. I then played Razom Nas Bohato, and I wish you could have seen their reaction.

They laughed, and laughed as if I was playing the latest greatest hit by Vanilla Ice, and to represent the essence of coolness itself, I played “Ice Ice Baby”.

It was a joke to them, this whole idea of peace, prosperity and hope that the song so powerfully encapsulated for millions of Ukrainians, just five years ago, was now the punch line of a very un-funny joke.

“What Happened?” I asked. I got lots of responses and replies, too many to list actually, but the main thing I kept hearing from these students was, “hope placed in a person is futile!”

As they were sharing with me their observations of the incredible irrelevance of that song and the disillusionment of millions of their countrymen as they’ve seen what hope in a man can and can’t do, my mind kept thinking of all the times I put my hope in things other than God.

You know, I didn’t have to travel all the way to Ukraine to learn that lesson, I could have just looked around me right at home. Many times my thoughts, motives and priorities are screaming out loud the fact that my hope is in things that have no eternal value, and no heavenly power.

In short, if I’m honest there are times when I ascribe to the good ‘ole American Motto “Pull yourself up by your bootstraps and get back at it.”

That’s a scary thought actually, because the truth is, that without God and His power alive and well in my life, I’ve got nothing!

This was a great trip once again, and God used all kinds of things to get my attention, but this question of “in whom does your hope lie?” is a question that was answered in my heart by some awesome visuals that hammered the truth home to me, that My hope is in God alone!

In whom does your hope lie?