Words of Hope

My sister and I were recently having a conversation about happy endings in books. She concluded that books shouldn’t always have happy endings because life doesn’t always go that way. I agree, to an extent, but there’s more to it than that.

I have an idea for a novel that I’m working on. I plan on seeing it through, which means it will need an ending. There’s a difference between happy endings and hopeful endings. I plan on approaching my book with this in mind. The end of a story can be sad, even tragic, but I want my books to always end with hope.

I’m sure this seems like an idealistic stance to take. That being said, it’s important to me that I remind people through my writing that no matter how dire circumstances become, hope can be found.

One of my favorite poems is “Hope” is the Thing With Feathers by Emily Dickinson. In this poem, the metaphor Dickinson uses for hope is a bird. The second stanza describes the resilience of hope like this:

“And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard –
And sore must be the storm -
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm –“

In this stanza, Dickinson illustrates that hope can survive and cultivate joy in the greatest of adversity. This is an eternal, transcendent hope, the kind of hope my Heavenly Father wants me to have in Jesus Christ. God doesn’t promise life will be easy, but He does promise to keep hope alive in me. Hope is a confident expectancy rooted in assurance of the goodness and faithfulness of God. That is why it is eternal because Jesus is eternal. Jesus is hope personified. He is “the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). With Jesus reigning as Lord of my life, hope will remain in me in the midst of suffering. The Apostle Paul declares this truth in Romans 5:

We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. 

(Romans 5:3-5, NLT)

My hope is in Jesus and what He did for me and all humanity when He died on the cross and rose from the grave. Death didn’t win. Suffering didn’t win. Jesus made a way for me to experience the Father’s unconditional love through the Holy Spirit. He loved me enough to endure momentary suffering to give me eternal hope. I can endure suffering knowing that I will not be forsaken. Jesus assured His disciples of this right before He went to the cross. He was giving them some last words of encouragement before His betrayal, death, burial and resurrection. He finished by saying:

“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” 

(John 16:33, NLT)

Just as Jesus didn’t want His disciples to lose hope, he doesn’t want me to lose hope.

There are plenty of reasons to lose hope in this life. As a journalism student I was inundated with reasons to become jaded, cynical and hopeless. I decided to move away from the type of writing that showcases the often bleak world we all live in. Instead I plan to use my skills to bring people hope. I won’t pretend suffering doesn’t exist. I will bring hardship and conflict into my books for the purpose of showing how God reigns over it all. He loves this sinful, broken world, and His story will never end.