A deep-sea fishing ship lost in a storm was able to reach land by the light coming from a village on fire.


1. Hope is hidden by windstorms and dark clouds.
   1) From the mind and heart
      (1) Hatred - Incitement of the heart, irrational
      (2) Rage - Feelings of destructiveness and doom
      (3) Anxiety, fear - Drains vitality and causes gloom
      (4) Sadness - Turns a person into a pessimist
      (5) Despair - Causes a person to give up on life
   2) Rushing wave of sin, flood-like worldliness, illness, hardships in life    * (1 John 2:15-17)
   3) Unstable political situation, international situation, social conflict
      - Loss of hope leads to surrender of life    * (Isaiah 51:6; Psalm 55:22)
      ◎ Suicide of Hemingway and Marilyn Monroe * (Matthew 16:26)

2. Does God care for me?
   - Oh Father, where are you?     * (2 Corinthians 1:8,9)
   1) Reversal in Abraham's life, the father of our faith
      (1) A setback in Canaan
      (2) Despair in Egypt
      (3) A life struggle
      (4) Childlessness at 85 and family disorder
      (5) A tragic resolution to offer his only son as a burnt offering on Mt. Moriah
          * (Genesis 22:12)
   2) Life is...
      (1) An everlasting cycle and like the ever-unpredictable weather
          * (James 4:14; Proverbs 27:1; 1 Peter 1:24,25)
      (2) An incident from the ancient time of the old Chinese Han Dynasty. The Korean
           expression equivalent for the English "irony of fate," meaning that evil may
           sometimes turn out to be a blessing in disguise * (Ecclesiastes 7:14)
      (3) Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

3. Look upon the beacon of hope.
   1) Always an unmoving beacon     * (1 Timothy 1:1; John 14:6)
      ◎ Queen Elizabeth of England's yacht and the lighthouse
   2) The beacon/lighthouse of the Cross
      (1) An ever-shining beacon of character
          * (Galatians 3:26; Ephesians 1:5;2 Corinthians 5:17)
      (2) An ever-shining beacon of new status
          * (Ephesians 2:10; 1 Peter 2:9;2 Corinthians 4:7-9)


Without exception, there are times when all of us feel skeptical, abandoned, lonely, discouraged, and in despair. All persons born after Adam have lived in such a way. At such times, all of us must look upon the beacon of hope.