Some years ago I was preaching in evangelistic meetings in Haiti. One of the deacons from the church I was working with asked me how I was that night. I answered using a common Haitian expression pa pi mal which translates into, I’m not bad or I’m OK. According to some sources the idea behind the expression is that no matter how bad it is, it can always be worse so I’m pa pi mal. I’m not yet the worst of the worse.
I had heard people use the expression literally hundreds of times and I had used it often in conversation. So I was not expecting Brother Jean Jeannot’s reaction when he admonished me, Pastor Steve a Christian is NEVER pa pi mal!
I’ve thought about that exchange several times over the years and I realize that my dear brother was right. A Christian is never just OK because we have something no one else has. We have Jesus and with Jesus we have Hope.
Don’t bring Jesus (or your Hope)
down to just being OK.
Don’t bring Jesus (or your Hope) down to just being OK.
Even in the hardest times in life we have Hope. Even in the darkest days we have Hope. Even when we can’t see light at the end of the tunnel we have Hope. And that should make us, not just OK, it should cause us to rejoice because for the Christian there is always Hope.
In Romans chapter 5 the Apostle Paul reminds us that because we have been justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Our Hope is not that life will get any easier or that God will remove all of our problems. Our Hope is in God’s glory. There is no uncertainty here (as the English language sometimes implies by the word hope). Our destiny is to share in the inexpressible glory of God himself (Romans 8:28-30).
In the very same passage the Apostle tells us that problems produce perseverance which leads to godly character, which in turn leads to our Hope which will never disappoint us.
So no matter what you face today or this week, it’s worth remembering that we are not just pa pi mal, we are rejoicing in what will be as we anticipate participating in the glory of God.
Hope is more than OK.
Thank you brother Jean Jeannot.
Stay in the Word
Pastor Steve
A Word for the Week 