I LIKE the slogan ‘Hope Again’. It’s catchy and extremely timely given all the challenges we are facing. I wish Andy Burnham well even though I’m not committed to his (or any other) political party. We desperately need an injection of hope into the national psyche. But as the PM was waxing lyrical at the Labour Party Conference, I found myself reflecting on the theme of The Christian ‘Hope Again’.

I began by reminding myself that not every kind of hope is helpful. Henry Miller pointed this out in ‘Tropic of Cancer’ where he denounced the kind of ‘escapist hope’ that refuses to face up to reality and chooses to look for something better to turn up around the corner. That sort of hope he said is more of an enemy because it refuses to do anything to change things. Friedrich Nietzsche said something similar when he said, “Hope, in reality, is the worst of all evils because it prolongs the torments of man.”

Some people seem to think Christian hope is like that because of its focus on the future return of Jesus. Don’t get me wrong, that is our ultimate hope. Christians believe that in the resurrection of Jesus we catch our first glimpse of the new heaven and earth in which there will be ‘no more death or mourning or crying or pain’. Now that really is an amazing hope!

Far from being an ‘escapist’ fantasy though, the Christian hope should - and does – spur believers on to action. No one understood this better than the apostle Paul who faced intense opposition, constant danger and the threat of death as he shared the Christian message. On one occasion for example, he was stoned and dragged outside the city of Lystra and left for dead! But, amazingly, after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city - before setting off on yet another missionary journey the very next day. He did all this for one simple reason: he was convinced that nothing he did for Jesus would be a waste of time or effort.

We might not see the proof of this in this life of course. That’s where faith comes in. Having said that though, we often do. I have seen lives changed in so many wonderful ways for example. I had one good friend whose life was transformed so dramatically that he ceased to be a habitual criminal and became a probation officer. I have seen marriages transformed and bodies healed, and I have participated in a humanitarian mission that was birthed in a small Bible study group that distributed millions of pounds worth of aid in a war-torn country.

Like Winston Churchill then, I have witnessed enough to believe that God’s ‘Invisible Hand’ can and does ‘interfere’ when people pray.

Hope then is not my enemy; it is my daily companion and a source of continuous encouragement.