Hoping Through Despair

Luke 22:31–32 (ESV) — 31 “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, 32 but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”
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When life comes crashing down, where do you run for cover?

Recently Isaac Hunter, pastor of the church Summit has left his post. He recently resigned from the position of head pastor due to moral failure - an affair...

This news has rocked many that know Isaac and the Hunter family. For those of you that don't know, Isaac is the son of Joel Hunter, senior Pastor of Northland church here in Orlando and part of Obama's Advisory Counsel on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

So when something like this happens, what are we to think? Did God fail? Does this prove that God isn't real? Does this prove that it was really a scam all along?

Behind the Scenes

To give you some context to this verse, this is taking place near the end of Jesus' life. The disciples had shared their last meal with Jesus, the Passover meal, and this is right before Jesus is unjustly arrested, judged, and tortured.

The text above is foreshadowing the events to come. Peter is going to deny that he has any relationship with Jesus at all by his actions and his words. He's not going to make this mistake once, but three times and take an oath on it.

In the text we get a peek behind the scenes to see that there is more than meets the eye.

It's not just that Peter makes mistakes or messes up...we all do that...but there is more to it. This isn't just a casual mess up, Peter is an important man. Peter is the leader of the disciples, he will be the man that is one of the pillars of the Christian movement, whose life will influence millions of people and who God will use to bring others to a knowledge of His Son Jesus.

This is a strategic, crippling attack on a church leader by Satan himself.

We would expect that the whole Jesus-following movement would have come to a halt, we would expect that the other disciples would lose heart. If the leader himself fails, how can anyone else succeed?

Rules of Engagement

Notice that even though this is a terrible blow to the Jesus-movement Satan has to ask permission! Do you realize the implications of this detail? This means that when all is said and done, the one who is in control is not the devil...it's Jesus.

This means that whatever sin has overcome you or whatever sin has been done to you, there's hope. How can this give you hope?

This means that Satan is nothing but a lackey.....this means that even the great antagonist of the world cannot harm one of God's children unless he has permission. Why is there hope? Because of the one who is in control. Even when all hope seems lost and despair seems to be crouched at your door the devil is not in control...God is...

1 Corinthians 10:13 (ESV) — 13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

If God is the one in control, that means there is no sin that's ever touched your life that God can't redeem and use for the building up of your faith and the faith of those that you will come in contact with. God will build his church not in good times alone, but God can use even the fiercest trials to build his church.

That means that hurt and pain are not meaningless. Imagine that sin is a knife, think of the knife in the hands of a psychopath and think of a knife in the hands of a surgeon. God is like a surgeon in that even our deepest wounds, the most painful things we will endure can be used to draw us and others closer to God.

A Living Hope

We tend to have things in our lives that we know we can depend on. Some things change, they move around, they shift, but there's always a few things in your life that we've learned are stable and can be trusted.

What do we do with ourselves when our stable things are fractured, when those things, those people, those relationships that we've come to depend on are broken, when our worlds are turned upside-down and whatever the foundation you thought was solid feels more like quicksand?

If it ultimately comes down to you being able to endure, you being able to stand when everyone else around you is falling...if it comes down to your moral strength and stamina, when pressed hard enough you will fail....we all will..

What are we to hope in when there is no hope? Where are we to find light when it feels like we have been abandoned in the dark?

When Peter has all the reasons in the world to despair, he turns again to Jesus...but why? How? How did he get through it? When Jesus needed Simon Peter the most...Peter ripped their relationship apart. How did Peter continue on when it seemed he had been broken beyond repair? 

Here's the answer. When all hope is lost, when you've failed utterly and completely and don't even know which way is up......you have to hope in someone else.

Look at our text, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail."

Peter's faith is sustained not because Peter is great or a moral superstar, Peter's faith is sustained because Jesus is the one that is sustaining it. Jesus prays for Peter, Jesus intercedes for Peter. Your faith is ultimately in the hands of Jesus and the Bible tells us that He began the faith in us, He intercedes for us when we fail, and that He will see that our faith is made perfect (Heb 12:2 & 1 Jn 2:1,2).

Because Jesus endured the ultimate loss of hope, we never have to lose our hope. Jesus really did despair on the cross where He endured not only physical suffering, but the mental anguish and despair of having His stable, perfect relationship with the Father torn apart. Jesus was cast out of His Father's good graces so that we could be brought in. Jesus endured separation and loneliness so that we never have to face any trails alone.

You see because Jesus has endured the ultimate rending of trust, we can always trust that the Father is there for us. Our trials are nothing compared to what Jesus endured, and when you see that the biggest trial has already been conquered, then you're free to endure the smaller trials in your life.

When you see that you will never have your world shaken like Jesus did, when you see how much He loves you to have endured it for you, you are free to endure the smaller earthquakes that threaten to tear your world two.

How can we have hope in a fallen world? Because Jesus is in control, Jesus is the one that sustains your faith, and Jesus has already endured the ultimate trial for you. 

The future of the Church rests not in us, but in Jesus our Savior, the true leader of the Church.

1 Peter 1:3–5 (ESV) — 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.