by: grace Youngson

I once saw a bumper sticker that said, “If you aren’t depressed, you aren’t paying attention!”

Our generation is more anxious than any other – we feel the weight of the world on our shoulders. Pessimism is now equated with realism.

What if we decided, however, to go against the grain and join the Hope Revolution?

Hope is a word that often seems wishy-washy. In our culture it is synonymous with the idea of wishing for something to happen, which can seem very dangerous. We are told too often, “Don’t get your hopes up!”

And yet, as young people, we are created for the exact opposite - we are zealous, innovative, and won’t take no for an answer! This is where what I like to call “The Hope Revolution’”comes in!

David, a young Shepherd Boy turned King, was one of the first proponents of the Hope Revolution!

His story is one of great hope. When David visited the battlefield, he was met with a hopeless story of a giant who had been taunting the army of Israel for forty days. Paralyzed by fear, no one in the army of Israel believed they could beat the giant. When David said he would go and beat the giant, his hopes were laughed to scorn.

However, this young teenager would not give up that easily. He was persistent and eventually convinced the King of Israel that he could fight Goliath!

To jump to the end of the story, David killed Goliath! And not to get too geeky here, but to show how deep David’s hope really was, David boldly declared at the beginning of the battle that he was going to cut off Goliath’s head. And you want to know the crazy part – David didn’t even have a sword! The Bible tells us he had a little slingshot with a few stones. Now that’s an attitude of hope right there!

David’s hope was not like that of the world, however. His hope was secure because it was rooted in His relationship with God. Before fighting Goliath, David declared, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.” (1 Samuel 17:45)

David was secure in His relationship with God and that led him to victory and gave him a tenacious strength that would not give up.

Another member of the Hope Revolution, as I like to call it, was Winston Churchill, the Prime Minister of Great Britain during World War II. Britain was at war with Germany who was ever-increasing in power and had many technological advantages.

After the war, Winston was invited to deliver a speech at a boy’s school. Ready to hear what this incredible leader who had led Britain to a great victory over the Nazis had to say, the audience waited for Winston to share his wisdom. What Winston did stunned the crowd. He gave the shortest, yet one of the most powerful speeches in history. He got up and said, “never, never, never quit.” Then he sat back down.

This ‘never quit’ attitude is only possible with hope – God’s kind of hope.

Yes, things in America may look dire right now, just like they did for David or Mr. Churchill. We are not pretending otherwise. But what we do believe is that we can still have great hope because we serve a great God!

Take our pledge to pray, vote, and engage and know that as you act, you can have hope that great things will happen!