Punxsutawney Phil is the “official” groundhog of Groundhog Day, the holiday, not the movie (though he is in the movie)!  And this year (2016) Phil did not see his shadow, which apparently means that spring will be coming sooner rather than later.

As I was considering Punxsutawney Phil and all of his antics, I realized something: this little mammal is all about hope.  Think about it, those who have suffered a long winter with mounds of snow, ice, and bone-chilling temperatures need something to remind them that spring is coming.  They need hope.

They need Punxsutawney Phil!

Unfortunately, the hope that this little groundhog brings isn’t all that great.  He only gets it “right” 40% 0f the time.

From the National Centers for Environmental Information

While 40% would be a great batting average in baseball (.400 is almost mythical in its stature), for a weather predictor that’s worse than flipping a coin!

The hope that Punxsutawney Phil brings is flimsy at best.

Better Sources for Hope than Punxsutawney Phil

So are there better sources for hope?  Absolutely!

Firstly, if we are searching for some hope we can be reminded of all the times and ways that we worked hard and got things done.  More often than not we succeed, in small ways and large ones.  But we end up failing ourselves since we aren’t perfect. Looking inward is not the best source of hope.

Secondly, we can search for hope in others, like our family and friends.  Most of us have people that we can count on.  When we’re in trouble, we contact them and they are there for us.  But we know that they’re imperfect people too and, oh by the way, they’ve failed us as well. Looking to others is not the best source of hope either.

Thirdly, we can search for hope in societal structures and governments.  More often than not, things like banks, infrastructure, and government agencies can be counted on to do what they are supposed to do.  But we all know the ways that they fail us too, seeing that they were created by and are run by flawed human beings. Looking outward to societal structures and governments is not the best source of hope either.

Fourthly, we can search for hope with organized religion, specifically within the Church.  In the vast majority of cases, the Church brings people hope and help.  But we all know that the Church is run by people who can influence things to go in the wrong direction based on their own predilections and brokenness.  Looking outward to the Church or organized religion is not the best source of hope either.

The Best Source of Hope

So is there one source that’s THE best?

Last night I was chatting with a new friend on Blab, a social broadcasting platform.  He said that he grew up in a Christian family but that based on various experiences he came to understand that the people who introduced him to Christ couldn’t be counted on, since they were flawed people.  He needed to turn to a better source of hope.

So he turned to a relationship directly with God.  His words were that “God could be counted on since he was perfect.”  However, my new friend admitted that his experience of God can’t always be trusted since he himself is also imperfect.  But he was more willing to trust in his relationship with God directly than any kind of connection to the divine mediated by others.

And, in my opinion, my new friend is on to something.  We fail ourselves.  Others fail us.  And the structures of the world fail us.  And even the Church fails us.

So where do we turn?

We turn to the true source of hope, Christ Jesus, whom Paul calls “the hope of glory” (Colossians 1.27).  And it is because of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead that we “have been given birth into a living hope” (1 Peter 1.3).

And because our hope is “in the living God” (1 Timothy 4.10) and not “wealth, which is uncertain” (1 Timothy 6.17), it is secure and unfailing.  And this hope is not flimsily based on the meandering failures of humans.  Instead it rests in the unswerving character of God himself, as expressed through Jesus, therefore it is “an anchor for the soul, firm and secure” (Hebrew 6.19).

So where we fail ourselves, others fail us, society fails us, and the Church fails us, Jesus won’t!  We can rest assured that our hope in him is well-placed!

What do you think?  Are Groundhog Day and Punxsutawney Phil all about hope?  Where can and should we place our hope?  Let me know in the comments below!