"Hope isn’t really hope until you need it,” Goehmann says in her book titled Finding Hope. Christ is the hope that comes in the brokenness of our lives. The brokenness of sin – our own, the sin of those around us, original sin, and the labor pains of a fallen world. Christ is there in the midst of it, redeeming us, redeeming the whole world.
This is the gist of her message woven throughout this
hundred and fifty page book. The hope she speaks of is the hope we see in
Romans chapter 5, where we read, “…suffering produces endurance, and endurance
produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to
shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy
Spirit…” (See Romans 5:3-5)
The world needs this hope, we need this hope, to know
that brokenness can be healed. When we are honest about our brokenness we
unveil if from the shame and blame that cloaks it, and we bring it into the
light so it can be healed. Brokenness makes us ask God “Who am I? Because if I
am Yours, then why all of this?” Brokenness makes us ask “Am I worthy of being
loved?”
Goehmann, a licensed clinical social worker and mental
health care provider, says we need to learn to name the brokenness, and part of
that is being honest about how we feel. When we hold in our emotions – our
bodies take the brunt of them in stress, tension, and inflammation. We get into
trouble when we let our emotions boil over onto others – our feelings should
not lead the way in our decision making, and yet in our brokenness, they often
do. The Holy Spirit is our Counselor and God’s Word is our guide. These speak
truth, hope, and love when our emotions speak all sorts of other things.
We walk a broken journey with an unbreakable Savior,
Goehmann is quick to remind us.
When we gather around God’s Word, we are reminded of Christ,
who speaks hope over brokenness. With His Word and by His Spirit, we can walk
through brokenness. We rejoice in hope, in the glory of God. Even in Christ,
the race we run in this life is not easy. Imagine how hard it is to walk
through this life of brokenness without Christ. That is why we share Christ
with others. To give them Hope. We raise the banner of Christ for the world to
see. We raise it over the darkness and brokenness that surrounds us and our
neighbors.
We cannot avoid brokenness; to try to escape it is to heap
unrealistic expectations of perfection upon ourselves and those around us. We
often work to make our families “appear” to be without brokenness, and this is
dishonest. It prevents us from getting the help we need, forces us into
isolation, and causes increasing anxiety. It also forces us to carry shame and
leads us to avoid relationships with other Christians who can comfort us with
the hope that is in Christ.
The light of Hope is more clearly seen when we confess our
sins and acknowledge our need for a Savior. Perfect people do not exist in this
world but forgiven and loved people do. God brings hope to us all and gives us
an Identity in Him. We look out into our broken communities that need the Hope
of Christ, and we ask the same question that Jesus was asked in Luke chapter
10, “Who is my neighbor?” and the answer is the same as it was then, “The
person in the ditch is your neighbor. The one who needs compassion is your
neighbor. The broken, the bruised, the one in need – that’s your neighbor.”
(see Luke 10:25-37)
Goehmann urges us to see Christ in all things. She reminds
readers that “Our broken things are never left untouched by God.” He may not
return things to the way they once were, the things of this world never last,
but He sends His Son to give us eternal healing.
Finding Hope ends with a series of discussion
questions to go along with each chapter, from brokenness in ourselves, and our
relationships to brokenness in our neighborhoods and communities. She points
the reader over and over again to the One who makes all things new.
Brokenness impacts everything. But it doesn’t get the last
word. Christ does.
