“If you could do anything in your life, without the restrictions of money or time or anything else, what would you do?”
I was asking some of my friends this at the international student ministry I go to lately. It turned out to be a beautiful icebreaker—the responses were full of visions of freedom, passions, and the ability to help others. Unfortunately, they were all being held back by something: competition, the desire for job security, parental expectations, and more. Although it was fun to imagine an easy future, it was sad to think that not all our wishes could possibly come true, and maybe sometimes it would be better if they didn’t.
It’s finals season at the university I go to, and everyone is under so much stress. Despite the overwhelming desire for a break, there are so many good things that are happening in my life right now. Still, it’s hard not to think, “If I had done this or that, maybe my life would be easier right now.”
A few days ago I got to spend time with my younger brother, and we had a great time catching up as he explained the plot of the latest season of SAO and expressed his excitement for the end of the hiatus of World Trigger. There was once a time where we would recommend shows to each other, but now what happens is he watches the ones that I recommend, and I just never have the time to do the same for him. Although I miss watching anime, I know some other, really important things are happening in my life, and I trust that eventually, I will have more time for it one day.
—
featured art by Zki (reprinted w/permission)
- The 12 Days of Christmas Anime, Day 11: Angel Beats! - 12.24.2018
- Lynna’s Journey (Entry #8): Where Would You Like To Be? - 11.28.2018
- Lynna’s Journey (Entry #7) The Old and The New - 11.07.2018
The trifecta of faith, hope, and love appears a number of times throughout the New Testament. And I realized earlier this year that I’d largely ignored the “hope” part of the trio. (In my defense, anxiety, depression, and abuse can leave one really struggling to feel hope.) Yet God keeps encouraging us to hope. This life can be a mess, and our hopes and dreams and longings may never come true in this world, but God still promises a happy ending. “And they lived happily ever after” won’t just be a faerie tale ending. And so we strive to balance appreciation of good things in the present, recognition that God telling us to hope implicitly validates our sense that this life is disappointing, and trust in his faithful promises that things WILL get better, perhaps in this life, and certainly in the age to come.
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts! Hope is so important. Even through times of difficulty and struggle, it’s important to try to remember God’s promises, even if they currently seem far away and distant.