Finding Hope

Mar 9

Read Jonah 4

It’s remarkable, really.

Each morning I read about the news from Ukraine—President Zelensky’s heroic leadership during the Russian invasion of 2022 and the soldiers and civilians that have responded to his call to defend freedom not just in the country of Ukraine but for the world—and I see a hope-filled people. In the midst of desperate circumstances, Ukrainians are getting married; they can be seen joking with each other as they work to construct their city’s defenses and stockpile home-made Molotov cocktails.

And yet, here I sit—well-off and geographically-isolated, in America—feeling hopeless. I feel powerless to act on bonds of fellowship with the millions of people who are suffering. I can do nothing but open my ears to their cries, and be a witness to their pain.

As a former history teacher, I can’t help but hear the echo reverberating through our current events. I can’t help but see Hitler in Putin, and feel shaken by the knowledge that appeasement fails, at the cost of many lives. I can’t help but relate the response of the Orthodox Church to that of the German churches, who abdicated their call to advance the Kingdom of God, siding instead with the powers of this world.

But then again, I can’t help but think of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and of the many other individuals who subverted Nazi atrocities. Here I catch a glimmer of hope. Although it has been repeatedly proven that an evil leader can reek havoc on our world, we know that powerful positive influence can be wielded as well.

We see an example of this powerful influence in the prophet Jonah, who calls the people of Nineveh to repentance. The Assyrians were a ruthless and wicked people, who placed little value on the lives of others. Yet, Jonah’s bold preaching led to a dramatic reversal in their behavior.

“When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.” Jonah 3:10

The story ends with a disgruntled Jonah, who desperately wants the Ninevites to pay for their years of terrorizing the Hebrew people. But I love God’s response:

“And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?” (Jonah 4:11)

It is a comforting reminder: God sees every one of his sons and daughters walking the face of this earth. He knows the number of hairs on each of our heads. And He is concerned for us all.