The Shawshank Redemption film is about hope and has a huge following. Why? Because the story is very clever and engaging. Also because it shows a person who keeps hope alive. Andy Dufresne is the architect of turning a dream into a reality.
His hope was just a possibility but he lived it daily. How much more should believers in a God of hope live for their future hope and destinies. However, whether you believe or not these principles apply for anyone with a dream.
How the Shawshank redemption applies to us
This story applies to:
A vision that we want to achieve and how to see it to completion.
Any problem that we face where we need a breakthrough and need hope
Any dream God has put on our hearts
Sowing into our spiritual inheritance daily
Sowing into the harvest (see “A Vision of the Harvest 2016“)
The wonderful thing about relationship with God is that nothing is impossible for Him, so we can dream the impossible. So what can we learn from the Shawshank Redemption about keeping hope alive.
12 Lessons
Andy Dufresne:
- Started from day one dreaming about his hope, his prison breakout
- Daily exercised that hope by applying the rock hammer
- Built on this by using his circumstances to provide resources for after his escape
- Sacrificed to make his hope happen (digging at night)
- Sowed into this hope in different ways
- Was persistent for 19 years!
- Faced many trials and disappointments but didn’t give up his hope
- Didn’t listen to his enemies’ voices or his friends who said that you cannot believe in hope in his situation
- Dealt with big disappointment. Hope arrived in a different form in Tommy the burglar but this proved to be false and a massive disappointment. But Andy kept going.
- Sowed into making his present life better by devoting himself to building the library
- Was ready to reap, when the opportunity came
- Dreamt for his friends. Even what he dreamt for his friend Red, who had no hope or faith in Andy’s vision, came to pass. The impossible happens. This is a picture of the grace of God. Even those who are around us become blessed by God because of our vision. It depends on God’s grace and a Kingdom vision.
The Shawshank Redemption finishes with a memorable statement from Andy Dufresne:
“Hope is a good thing, the best of things. And no good thing ever dies.”