The Shawshank Redemption: Hope as a Dangerous Thing (Romans 5:3-5)
Red tells Andy, "Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane." Andy replies, "Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies." Paul writes that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance character, and character hope—"and hope does not put us to shame." Andy crawled through a river of sewage to emerge clean on the other side. His hope wasn't denial; it was endurance. He served his time—nineteen years—while never letting the prison own his soul. Biblical hope isn't optimism; it's confidence that the story isn't over. The walls of Shawshank couldn't contain what Andy carried inside.
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