(From the 2006 Florida College Lecture Series, as documented in Logos)

PULL ON THE ROPE

Dee Bowman

Our hope is “stored up” in heaven (Col. 1:5). God cannot lie and He is the progenitor of our hope (Tit. 1:2). Our patience is connected with our hope in Christ. We are told to hold on to our hope in Christ (Heb. 3:6), since it is the anchor that has been thrown off into eternity and lands at the throne of God Himself (Heb. 6:18–19). And so,

When you’re down and out and it seems no one cares,

Pull on the rope.

When you’ve lost your way momentarily

and everything seems blurred,

Pull on the rope.

When depression seems your lot

and you call and no one answers,

Pull on the rope.

When your friend turns and walks no longer with you,

Pull on the rope.

When you’re tired and it still must be done,

when you feel you can’t take another step,

Pull on the rope.

When you suddenly realize it’s your fault

and I’m sorry sticks in your throat,

Pull on the rope.

When shame and disgrace have cast you into a pit of despair

and no one seems to care,

Pull on the rope.

When death has come and robbed you

of someone near and dear to you,

Pull on the rope.

When you must come to face your own mortality,

Pull on the rope.

But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others, who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, and with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words. (1 Thess. 4:13–18)

There is hope. Thanks be to God, there is hope!

But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint.

Oh! Blessed Hope!^[1]

^[1] Bowman, D. (2006). Wings like Eagles. In D. W. Petty (Ed.), Portraits in Isaiah (pp. 40–41). Temple Terrace, FL: Florida College Bookstore.