Reclaim Hope

On October 31, 2003, 13-year-old Bethany Hamilton went to surf along Tunnels Beach, Kauai, with her friend Alana Blanchard, and Alana’s father and brother. A 14-foot-long shark attacked her and Hamilton was rushed to Wilcox Memorial Hospital, where her father was scheduled to have a knee surgery that same morning. These events are accurately portrayed in the movie and filming even took place at the same beach where the attack really happened.

Hamilton’s journey to relearn surfing involved a custom-made board with a handle for her right arm, just as demonstrated in Soul Surfer. After accompanying her Church youth group to Phuket, Thailand, as part of a relief effort for tsunami victims, Hamilton realizes that she can use her gifts as a surfer to inspire others, events which happened like they were shown on screen. Months later, Bethany Hamilton made the National Scholastic Surf Association (NSSA) finals and took fifth place in the Girls 18 and Under category. This victory is where Soul Surfer concludes; footage of the real Bethany Hamilton surfing and photos of her family and friends then appear alongside the rolling credits.

Bethany Hamilton is an American professional surfer who came to prominence after surviving a shark attack in 2003, during which she lost her left arm. The shark severed the limb just below the shoulder which meant she could not wear weight-bearing prosthetics, so Hamilton taught herself to surf with just one arm. Against all odds, she ultimately returned to professional surfing mere months after the traumatic accident. And though it's based on true events, the movie Soul Surfer did change some details for dramatic effect.

1. God wants you to rise above Discouragement.

Life will be a series of waves.

You can choose to focus on lost opportunities.

You can be ready to ride the next crest.

What area or past loss would God have you let go?

Looking to the future, where would God bless you if you join Him?

Ezra 1:1–11 (CSB)

1 In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken through Jeremiah, the Lord roused the spirit of King Cyrus to issue a proclamation throughout his entire kingdom and to put it in writing:

2 This is what King Cyrus of Persia says: “The Lord, the God of the heavens, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and has appointed me to build him a house at Jerusalem in Judah. 3 Any of his people among you, may his God be with him, and may he go to Jerusalem in Judah and build the house of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem. 4 Let every survivor, wherever he resides, be assisted by the men of that region with silver, gold, goods, and livestock, along with a freewill offering for the house of God in Jerusalem.”

5 So the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, along with the priests and Levites—everyone whose spirit God had roused—prepared to go up and rebuild the Lord’s house in Jerusalem. 6 All their neighbors supported them with silver articles, gold, goods, livestock, and valuables, in addition to all that was given as a freewill offering. 7 King Cyrus also brought out the articles of the Lord’s house that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem and had placed in the house of his gods. 8 King Cyrus of Persia had them brought out under the supervision of Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah. 9 This was the inventory:

30 gold basins, 1,000 silver basins,

29 silver knives, 10 30 gold bowls,

410 various silver bowls, and 1,000 other articles.

11 The gold and silver articles totaled 5,400. Sheshbazzar brought all of them when the exiles went up from Babylon to Jerusalem.

2. God has a plan for you to join Him in victorious living.

When necessary, God will use the megaphone of pain to revive you.

“God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” –C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain (New York: HarperCollins, 1940/1996), 91.

God can and will use a crooked stick to accomplish His purpose.

Unlike Islam’s Scripture and the Mormon’s texts, the true Lord’s word is not merely based upon the speculations of one person claiming and angel from Heaven just dictated their traditions. You need to trust Mohammed or Joseph Smith and ignore the lack of connection to history or question why God would wait to communicate to people until the 7th Century AD for Muslims and the 18th Century for Mormons.

And why they rely greatly upon our texts, their claims of inspiration differ vastly than how Scripture reveals itself in community and in history. Apart from the existence of Joseph Smith and Mohammed, they offer little to no connection to history, archeology, and reality apart from a totally blind faith to those newcomers. Christianity while it calls us to believe in the Spiritual Realm, we have historical evidence that the God of the Bible interacted beyond just one person dictating a story. We have eyewitnesses, archeology and a correspondence to reality even today!

Although Cyrus did not profess loyal faith in God. He probably held to a polytheistic worldview and saw Yahweh as the territorial God of Jerusalem. He may not have known about the prophecy of Jeremiah or the time God set for the Exile had come to end. He had different motivation, God through his Providence still brought the King to the decisions and actions to accomplish His will.

At the right time, God set up Cyrus to defeat the Mighty City of Babylon and end the Babylonian Empire.

According to Herodotus, Cyrus invades Babylon by diverting the Euphrates above the city and marching troops along the dry riverbed. This popular account describes a midnight attack that coincided with a Babylonian feast.

The Persians set seige to the impenetrable city of Babylon. Belshazzar in his over confidence set forth a Banquet during the seige. He mocked the Persians and God by using sacred plates and cups from God’s Temple. Little did he know that Cyrus had stopped up the mighty Euphrates

The phrase mene mene tekel upharsin appears in Daniel 5, along with its translation. Some translations spell upharsin as parsin. The phrase appeared on a wall in the palace of Belshazzar, the acting king of Babylon. He is referred to as the “son of Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 5:18, 22), although he was not Nebuchadnezzar’s immediate successor (Jeremiah 52:31). The biblical account of the mysterious and frightening appearance of the phrase mene mene tekel upharsin has given rise to the modern expression “the handwriting on the wall,” meaning “a portent or warning of inevitable misfortune.”

Isaiah 55:10–11 CSB

10 For just as rain and snow fall from heaven and do not return there without saturating the earth and making it germinate and sprout, and providing seed to sow and food to eat, 11 so my word that comes from my mouth will not return to me empty, but it will accomplish what I please and will prosper in what I send it to do.”

If you find yourself going the same direction as everyone else, perhaps it’s time to change your destination.

Walter Kaiser OT Scholar estimates that during this first return after the 70 years God exiled His elect people, perhaps 50K returned out of 300K in Babylon. That means 1 out of 6 people or 17%.

Today it may even be less people

Barna defines “biblical worldview” as believing that absolute moral truth exists; the Bible is totally accurate in all of the principles it teaches; Satan is considered to be a real being or force, not merely symbolic; a person cannot earn their way into Heaven by trying to be good or do good works; Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on earth; and God is the all-knowing, all-powerful creator of the world who still rules the universe today. They explain:

The proportion varies by the pastoral position held. Among Senior Pastors, four out of 10 (41%) have a biblical worldview—the highest incidence among any of the five pastoral positions studied. Next highest was the 28% among Associate Pastors. Less than half as many Teaching Pastors (13%) and Children’s and Youth Pastors (12%) have a biblical worldview. The lowest level of biblical worldview was among Executive Pastors—only 4% have consistently biblical beliefs and behaviors.

Look at Barna’s research. only 2 out of 5 Senior pastors could be convicted of having a Biblical worldview. After that and associate, it’s about 1 out of 10 and executive 1 out of 20. Now if that is the leaders across the nation, imagine what’s going on in those who don’t go to Sunday School or read their Bible.

3. There will always be a cost to grow in Christ. (vs. 4-5)

Some people may have a legitimate reason to have stayed. Elderly parents; young children; perhaps God called them to be ambassadors such as Esther and Mordecai. But how many didn’t even check with the Lord? How many people stayed with what they knew because they didn’t trust God’s reward?

Two Generations had never seen Jerusalem. They needed encouragement to act on faith.

2 Corinthians 5:7 (CSB)

7 For we walk by faith, not by sight.

They needed the insight of others to guide them to walk by faith. The younger generations needed inspiration to go back to a ruined city and see how God could build a greater future! You may be that person for someone else. You may need someone to tell you of God’s glory.

They had to leave the comfort of established lives in Babylon.

Philippians 4:11–13 (CSB)

11 I don’t say this out of need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I find myself. 12 I know how to make do with little, and I know how to make do with a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content—whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. 13 I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me.

When you commit to God’s best for you, He will supply your needs. (vs. 6-11)

ACTION PLAN

Memorize Isaiah 55:10-11

What experiences do you have that would God use to encourage and inspire others?

Where have you learned to rise above Discouragement?

Share an inspirational Scripture, quote, or vision God gave you with someone in need of a boost this week.