In Niger, there is a great need for a train. A train would move people and products and make navigation of the country so much easier. While traveling there a few years back, I saw the train tracks on the entire stretch of our journey, but I never saw a train.
Asking my friends about this, they told me a story that, to this day, I cannot shake.
With great expense and greater anticipation, the rails were laid. It seemed that all over the region, people were excited about the progress a train could make for everyday people. In a word, the train represented hope, and the hope grew more and more as the project was nearing completion.
When the day came for the inaugural ride, the train left the station, and shortly after that, it tipped sideways and fell off the tracks. The collective bursting of the bubble for these amazing people from Niger could be felt years after as my friends relayed to me the story.
I asked, “Why did the train fall over?” Their response; “The tracks had no foundation and could not hold the weight of the train.”
“When will they fix it, making it work?” was my next question. “The hope is gone now. They do not want to try.” was their reply.
What a lesson in faith and life! First, foundations matter. Jesus taught this truth in Matthew 7, reminding us that the only difference between calamity and success in building is the foundation. Jesus said the foundation for his kingdom is his words and how we hear and act upon them. How is your foundation?
Another lesson is that when hope rises, it can be amazingly powerful for a person and for communities too. The opposite is true as well. When hope crashes, rebuilding is tough. We see this across the world whenever disaster strikes. Those with hope rebuild, those without settle for lives in disarray. How is your hope?
Most of us live lives that the rails we have in place seem challenged. In fact, some of us have tipped over so often; our hope is in a free-fall. For others, we have not yet launched the train, and our hope is riding high. Wherever you find yourself, well-placed hope is one of the key ingredients to a great foundation.
Right now, we are entering into a Season of Hope. In this season, we celebrate the hope-giving truth that God sent Jesus into the world to rescue us. Our hope is not in the strength of rails to hold the weight of our life. Rather it is in a God who started a rescue plan that cannot be stopped. Time, kings, wars, natural disasters, hatred, bigotry, fear, sin, brokenness, human devastation cannot stop the plan of God. God arranged the world to receive the rescuer at just the right time. (His words, not mine). God declared that with HIM, nothing is impossible. God shouted that HE could do way more than we ask or imagine.
Will you take some time to answer two questions? Who is your foundation? Who is your hope?
Thanks for reading along.