Any of us can fall into the trap of false hope. What is false hope? It is confident feelings about something that might not be true.[1] Jesus gives us insight as He teaches about false hope in a parable. A rich man’s barns are too small for his crops, and he builds new ones. With all his wealth stored up, the man thinks he can take it easy, eat, drink, and be merry. Luke 12:20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?’ 21 “Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.” [2]
Like the man in the story, soon our life will be over, but then what? He was putting all his hope in his wealth in this world. The opposite of putting our hope in ourselves or wealth is a life of faith, humility, and obedience toward God. Then, our hope is not in ourselves or our possessions but in Jesus, our Savior.
Haman’s False Hope
The evil government official Haman plotted to have all the Jews killed throughout the Persian empire after Mordecai, a Jew and minor official, would not bow down to him. Haman then falsely conveyed to King Xerxes that a certain people refused to obey the king’s laws and deserved to die. Haman failed to tell the king that these people were the Jews. With little thought or compassion, King Xerxes approved Haman’s plan and set out an edict to have the Jews destroyed.
Haman was confident in his plans to kill the Jews. He was unaware that Esther had invited him to a second dinner to reveal his wickedness. With his plan in place, Haman was full of false hope as he left the palace.
There was just one disappointment. Esther 5:10But when Haman saw Mordecai sitting at the palace gate, not standing up or trembling nervously before him, Haman became furious. 10 However, he restrained himself and went on home.[3] Haman restrained himself because he thought Mordecai would die soon. But Haman had no idea that his evil plan was about to be overturned, and he would be the one killed, not Mordecai.
Humility
The anecdote for false hope is humility. We can characterize humility as genuine gratitude, a lack of arrogance, and a modest view of oneself.[4] How would the rich man and Haman’s lives have differed if they had been rich toward God?
The breakthrough of true humility is asking the Lord to help you be like Him. As you do, He reveals blind spots that can lead to false hope or other sins. True humility is like wearing glasses that allow us to see others and those around us as Jesus does. This is only possible through the transformation that comes through growing faith. With God’s help, we can all take a step in being more humble.
To learn more about the trap of false hope, listen here:
https://podpoint.com/light-of-christ-church-podcast/esthers-request
[1] https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/false-hopes
[2,3] Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation . Tyndale House Publishers.
[4] https://www.christianity.com/wiki/christian-terms/what-does-humility-mean-in-the-bible-why-should-we-be-humble.html