What has been the toughest load you’ve carried lately? This piece will meet someone on a hospital bed, battling mysterious health crises; others have lost their jobs or breadwinners. There are many unemployed destitutes, educated derelicts, and many more who are lonely, depressed, and unsure of their next meal. Some failed school demands or promotion examinations they needed badly. Life is happening to people.
From the benefit of hindsight, however, I have learned a profound lesson: failure to meet life’s expectations at one point, could be the beginning of success in something bigger, when a person is in distress but patiently waits and does his/her utmost about that which causes the most stress and frustration. This thesis leads to another: “There are no problems, only opportunities.” Oh yes, there is a silver lining in every dark cloud.
While reading the Scriptures, I got a prophetic assurance in Exodus 14:13 (NIV): “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today, you will never see again.” Here “Egyptians” is a metaphor for problems, meaning every pain or difficulty has an expiry date.
Abraham Lincoln stood tall as one who lost out in electoral contest but ended up becoming one of the most powerful prsidents ever had. Thomas Edition lost his gigantic/technical laboratory inferno but ended becoming one of the most celebrated inventors in world. Fredrick Hayek announced his contemplation for suicide after being taken captive in an intellectual battle during a Commanding Height debate but ended up taking the glory for the increasing popularity of economic globalisation today. That neighbour of yours that suffered big losses but bounce back is a classical case in point. The list goes on - there are many reference points i cannot count on my fingers, and none gave up on hope during their trying moments!
My dear brother/sister, you have suffered excruciating pain, but you can be fine again. Nature rules and life has a rhythm that constantly shows: when things go very bad, they can go very fine again. This is the message of hope! I’ll stress the point with the concluding line from G. P. Taylor’s novel, "Shadowmancer" (2003): “Beneath the cry of the seagulls could faintly be heard the singing of the seloth.”
Like a proverbial phoenix, you shall rise from the ashes of your darkest hour to the pinnacle of great delight. With God, all things are possible in the womb of time and hope. Holding onto audacity of hope and the possibility of time which God owns and regulates is the way to go. Between the time one is born and when one dies is an opportunity to live but with vicissitudes that cause stress and, in extreme cases, death.
Death is constant, but hope is a limitless anchor of progress for the living. A person begins to die; companies fold, nations collapse, and the world is doomed when hope is lost.
Hope dreams. Hope believes. Hope endures. Hope is a magic wand, a survival strategy that dares and fixes with conscious and delibrate effort!
Hope is a dynamic and organic sense of being positive in thought, words, and action. Hope is a big energy that ignites big actions. Hope is a heroic sense of determination to go extra mile. Hope is conviction and resilience not rhetoric. Hope is golden, and gold never expires. And hope is a clinical proof that one is alive and can still make a difference!
Hope matters a lot, and an anonymous call to action sums it up: “At the end of the day, all you need is hope and strength—hope that it will get better and the strength to hold on until it does.” If hope makes no sense to you, what else will?
When hope meets enthusiasm and passion, great things begin to happen. Hope is a necessary condition but effort is the sufficient condition to get things done!
*(Modest Thoughts with Ayuba, Yilgak'ha, 21th December, 2025)*
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