Bishop’s News - Let’s place our hope in the right places

Bishop Justin Duckworth

Romans 8:35-37

34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 

36 As it is written: 

“For your sake we face death all day long; 
    we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 

“I have a funny feeling of déjà vu. I’m pretty sure that I wrote this same message at the start of 2022: we think that when a new year clicks over that somehow things are re-set, and of course the upcoming year is going to be easier again.  

We only have to look at how the year is beginning to unfold to see that’s not necessarily the case. In all likelihood, 2023 is going to be hard, or harder, than 2022. What a doom-monger.  

Of course hope is something we shouldn’t lose, but it’s important that we place our hope in the right places.                  

During her resignation speech, former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern noted how all of the challenges of her season of leadership had left her with “nothing in the tank.” I think it’s great for leaders to recognise when it’s their time to step down, and to publicly acknowledge their vulnerability.  On the whole, I think she did a great job.  

The great truth is that I think sometimes we all lose sight of is that we were never going to have enough in the tank, whether we are leaders or not. We’ll explore this more at a leadership level at Ministry Leaders’ Family Camp in March. But God is more than enough. More than ever we are losing the illusion of having enough capacity, being smart enough, being good enough. We are never going to have enough tenacity, wisdom or inventiveness to cope. But again, God is more than enough.  

I wonder if it’s a good thing that we come to grips with our limitations, our mortality and our fragility, we are left with? Only that call to rely on God, who has made us conquerors in Christ, and in whom our weakness is never condemned. 

+Justin