Focus and Hope

For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it lingers, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay. ~ Habakkuk 2:3

I am currently reading “A Higher Call” by Adam Makos. It’s the story of extraordinary heroism and gallantry in the skies over Europe during the height of World War Two. I was drawn to it because of my life-long interest in history. I’ve been especially interested in the first half of the 20th Century since so much of my character is shaped by the generations of that era. It is impossible to succinctly summarize what I’ve learned about the cultural impact of The Great War (WWI) and the sequel, World War II. Suffice it to say, Western society started changing about a hundred years ago in ways that are very evident today. Our human minds tend to measure time according to generations, while historically significant events have a much longer lifespan. It is rightly said that “those who will not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” 

It has been my honor to have known and learned from the elders of those generations. I have gleaned much about everything from trench warfare, the Spanish Flu, the Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression, naval, airborne, and ground combat, the Korean War, the Cold War, the Vietnam War, and more from the people who lived through it whether as civilians or servicemen and women. I am sharing this so that I can justify in some way the perspective I have on our current circumstances. In addition to the influences named above, I have been a life-long learner with a special emphasis on the Bible and Christianity. With all this and more in mind, I strive to encourage you during this incredible year. 

During times of “unprecedented” uncertainty, people live with daily trauma, which is defined as a deeply distressing or disturbing experience. Combat veterans frequently experience post-traumatic stress disorder that results from surviving long periods of high stress and anxiety that forced them to focus on a moment-by-moment basis while chaos reigned around them. There is no sense of normality and no way to know what tomorrow will bring. In effect, PTSD is preceded by MID-traumatic stress disorder (disorder = chaos). If this condition seems familiar, it is because we are living with similar stressors.

 How do people survive and thrive during very difficult times? Most will tell you that the intense focus upon the immediate issues takes away the burden of overthinking things that can not be predicted, such as whether one will live or die. The main thing is to deal with the matters at hand. During random downtimes, one can afford to think about the future, but only as an abstract hope without a definite arrival time. It is a mindset of focus and hope. 

Today’s verse is from one of the prophets of the Babylonian exile period of first covenant history. Habakkuk experienced his people’s trauma as they saw their Temple destroyed, the holy city in ruins, and their people dispersed across the continent. It was for them an “unprecedented” time of uncertainty and chaos. Yet, Habakkuk received and shared messages of focus and hope. He plainly stated that, while some would not see redemption in their lifetime, there would be a day to look forward to. Though it lingers, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay. 

If we, the short-lived and generationally-minded, have trouble comprehending history’s multi-generational events and consequences, then it must be so much harder to grasp the LORD’s millennial movement that is directed from outside of space-time as we know it. The truth is, it takes faith. “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1) In other words, focus and hope. Faith is found in one’s heart and is only truly known to him or her, and the LORD. It will not remove trauma, or make one cheerfully endure it, but it is the real sense that the circumstances are a brief moment of discomfort in an eternal life that culminates in the LORD’s fulfilled plan and the consummation of the LORD’s relationship with the LORD’s creation. 

Whatever you confront, whether mildly disconcerting or downright traumatic, deal with it and then focus on the revelation [that] awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. There is a time coming when things will not be as they presently are.