Think about what it feels like when you are in a situation in which you feel there is no hope. You feel trapped. All the joy has been drained from your heart. The road ahead looks dark and frightening and you are afraid to take the next steps forward. Now think about what it feels like when you are filled with hope. The future looks bright and promising. You are eager to tackle whatever obstacles lie before you. You look back on your past with a sense of gratitude – both for all the good that you have experienced and for the challenges that have helped to shape you. In other words, when we are hopeful we can see all the good ways that our past has shaped us. We are also more likely to see the Lord has been with us, blessing us in the good times and carrying us through the dark times. But if we don’t feel much hope, we tend to dwell only on the negative aspects of our past and lose sight of God’s faithfulness and His promise to always be with us.
One of the best illustrations of this kind of hope is the story of Jesus’ encounter with the disciples on the road to Emmaus (Lk.24:13-35). Their hope was becoming rekindled as Jesus explained their past to them in a new way. That hope began to shine more brightly as He showed them God’s glorious plan for their future. All that good news began to erase their sadness. Then when Jesus blessed and broke the bread they were restored and ready to follow Him again. It is important to see that Jesus wasn’t just teaching the disciples on their journey. He was restoring their hope by healing their memories. He helped them see the past through His eyes and showed them how carefully and patiently God had worked to bring them to this point. He showed them that their hope in Jesus had not been in vain after all. By explaining the past, He opened up for them hope in the future.