https://odb.org/2026/10/29/hope-in-a-hero
1 Chronicles 16:12–27 (NIV): Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced, you his servants, the descendants of Israel, his chosen ones, the children of Jacob. He is the Lord our God; his judgments are in all the earth. He remembers his covenant forever, the promise he made, for a thousand generations, the covenant he made with Abraham, the oath he swore to Isaac. He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree, to Israel as an everlasting covenant: “To you I will give the land of Canaan as the portion you will inherit.” When they were but few in number, few indeed, and strangers in it, they wandered from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another. He allowed no one to oppress them; for their sake he rebuked kings: “Do not touch my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm.” Sing to the Lord, all the earth; proclaim his salvation day after day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples. For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and joy are in his dwelling place.
In a film about a vigilante crime-fighting hero, the protagonist seems to be waging an impossible war. Not only is his city overrun with violence and theft, but he also discovers that the police force, court system, and public officials are corrupt. He’s repeatedly tempted to give up on the city and leave. But our hero realizes that what people need is hope. He chooses to stay. That fictional world isn’t too different from our world. Evil is present. Those in power will disappoint us. But thankfully God never abandons His people, no matter how dark things appear. We see evidence of this in King David’s song of praise after the ark of the covenant was moved to Jerusalem. David exhorted his people to praise God, who “remembers His covenant forever” (1 Chronicles 16:15) and faithfully led them to the promised land (v. 18). (Karen Pimpo, Our Daily Bread, 29th October 2026)
The world we live in is fallen. That is why we see evil nearly everywhere. We know that the rich and powerful control a lot of our life. It has been like that since ancient times. During those biblical times, the rich and powerful own the land and the fields that grow crops while peasants work for them to be able to make bread.
The Israelites were somewhat different as every family had a stake in the promised land; every family had land to cultivate and grow their own crops. So food wasn’t an issue at the promised land where “milk and honey freely flowed”, a phrase that meant prosperity for every man and woman. The LORD had even enacted a law to ensure that landowners when harvesting will leave some behind for the widowers, orphans and the foreigner. Of course, famine was still devastating and without food, people died.
But in modern times, while food is less of an issue, money is not so easily available to everyone. Most of us have to work for a living as few are born with a silver spoon although some of us had some inheritance to tide us through. I recall when growing up, we lived for many years from paycheck to paycheck, eating rationally and owning little to make ends meet. So when my parents passed, there wasn’t much for my sister and I by way of inheritance except the happy moments growing up and living together as family in the past. You see, there were challenges and quarrels and lots of lacks, yet as I look back, I see those happy moments we spent together as a family. Actually we don’t need much money to have happiness. Of course we knew God early and were actively serving Him.
Evil will always be present in this fallen world. Some people have more privileges or were born into better and more connected families. In Malaysia, we have the royalty, the political and the big business families. They have wealth and better access to education and travel and live in nicer homes and drive better cars. It is perhaps less apparent in Malaysia but there is nevertheless a class divide. Billions change hands illegally and a lot of those billions were taxpayer funds, if had been used properly and not illicitly leaked, would have raised the average standard of living significantly. We started on par, but see what Singapore has become when public corruption is more of an exception. In fact, see how China has progressed over the past 30-40 years when the ruling elite enriched the nation, and not themselves.
Fortunately, we as believers in Christ, have our hope in God. We know that despite all these injustices and disparity in privileges and family connections, our basic needs will be taken care of. We will have food on the table, clothes to wear and a roof over our heads. We can still live with a RM10 meal and do not need that RM1,000 fine dining experience. Although RM100 at the wet market buys us less nowadays, if we cook ourselves, it will still stretch quite far.
Don’t dwell too much on the rich and powerful. Focus on the life God has prepared for us. Do His will and fulfil His plans and purposes for our lives. Remember Matthew 6:33 – all these shall be added unto you, we just need to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. Be thankful that in this land although we are not in the upper social class of the rich and powerful, we have a broad middle class with access to capital, education and travel. More of us may still occasionally dabble in the small luxuries of life; for example, a nice meal of large crabs and prawns or a scoop or two of exquisite Hàagen-Dazs ice-cream!
