Bright Hope in Troubled Times
There is Bright Prophetic Hope in Stormy Troubled Times
It’s spring in New Zealand right now and the weather in Auckland is awful. Wet, windy, cold and occasionally a wee bit sunny, four seasons in one day on repeat every day. Sometimes it’s felt to me like the never ending winter! But it’s not true, spring is here, and summer is coming. The brave pink blossom being blown about wildly on our fruit trees testifies to the beautiful newness that is already breaking out.
And oh, the headlines seem relentless—violence, political chaos, wars, and economic uncertainty. Yet here too there are signs of life, tokens of the prophetic reality that God is making all things new, yes, he is redeeming and will redeem all things. And yes, the news can feel overwhelming, tempting us either to either numb out or simply surrender to despair.
But the Spirit is faithfully and lovingly inviting us into a different posture: to live grounded in prophetic hope and integrity even in the midst of the spring storms and the earth’s groans.
The Bible never ask us to a pretence that all is well. How hard would that be to maintain! The prophets wept, Jesus wept, and Paul grieved over a broken world. Lament is an integral part of faith, not the absence of faith. Yet biblical lament is never despair and it is definitely not the last word. Rather, we grieve with hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13), because we know God is redeeming history and will certainly make all things new (Revelation 21:5).
This prophetic hope is not escapism. It is not some brittle, inauthentic posture that denies the here and now. It is deeply and strongly rooted in the reality that God is at work—even now—in the mess of the world. And when we align our hearts with Christ in prayer, repentance, and daily acts of love and service, we are participating in His beautiful redemptive flow. Hope is not naïve optimism or denial, but a settled, grounded confidence that God’s kingdom is breaking in here and now, even as we await its fullness.
Paul exhorted the Philippians to think on what is true, noble, and praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8). This isn’t a call to denial, but to reorientation: to let our minds and hearts be formed by God’s truth and beauty rather than consumed by fear. As we hold grief and hope together, we stay centred in Christ—able to function with clarity, compassion, and resilience in a fractured world.
Yes, we do need to refocus and realign regularly, to become aware of God’s faithfulness and personal involvement for good. This is the territory when we’re living prophetically and hopefully in the realities of the here and now.
Our calling is not to escape, nor to yield to hopelessness and despair, but to faithfully participate with God in the particular patch of earth that he has entrusted to us. Every prayer, every act of faith and creativity, every refusal to give in to cynicism is a prophetic signpost pointing to the day when heaven and earth will fully be made one.
So lift let’s up our eyes. Let genuine lament lead us to God-centred intercession, personal repentance to deeper love, and let grief that rolls our burden over to the Comforter give rise to fresh hope. God really is making all things new—celebrate the tokens of his redeeming work, like the blossom on our trees, and say “yes” again to His invitation to walk by faith with hearts revived in truth and hope.