Hope is a double-edged sword because we follow a God who does not conform to our expectations and whose plans do not always align with our hopes. As the psalmist said, our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases (Psalm 115:3).
Abraham Maslow once said that if the only tool you have is a hammer, then it is tempting to treat everything as if it were a nail. For much of my early ministry, that was exactly what I did.
“Why do bad things happen to good people?” It is a common philosophical question. But the inverse can trouble us just as deeply: why do people who do bad things seem to prosper? Our news cycle is filled with stories of the powerful abusing their privilege with apparent impunity, while some of the best people I know have suffered great tragedies or grievous injustices.
