Today's word, "hope" is defined by the OED as an expectation or desire that something will happen, might happen, could happen, "hope against hope," with a note that there is an archaic definition of "trusting in something." Not only do the definitions seem to say hope is the possible "anti-hopelessness" more than than something substantial, the closest definition to what Christians mean by "hope" is out of date and only a memory for the OED folks.
I do not diminish value of the hope that desires something better. Viktor Frankl wrote that when the light of hope left his fellow concentration camp inmates, it was certain they were not long for this world. In fact, the hope of a pending Allied liberation which for years did not come actually exacerbated the frequency of the life-exhausting despair of lost hope. The need to hope is strongly correlated with survival.
But for those who seek to follow Christ, hope is more than a hoped for better situation or outcome: It is a vibrant, joyous, trust-filled word that (with faith and love) provides the foundation of our spiritual journey, fills us with peace, keeps us forward-focused.
We don't just "hope" God loves us, we trust God loves us. We don't just hope God will guide us; our hope is proved true each day through prayer, medication, tending the needs and wants of others, fellowship, study, worship and a persistent reaching for God in response to God's perpetual reaching for us. We don't hope that we ourselves, our children and our grandchildren will have lives of purpose; rather we, having experienced the joy of service in Jesus Name and the delight of seeking diligently to understand God's message to us, are certain of its availability and value.
We experience a different level of anxiety and fear when we have hope; in folks with a deep and mature faith, there is a marked difference in the way they process uncertainty and how danger is addressed. If this were not so, folks who minister in dangerous places (whether in this country or around our world) would be far fewer and their service brief.
So, my friend, if "hope" is something that leaves you feeling a little deflated, maybe a different approach might give you a lift!
1 Corinthians 13:6-10 Love does not gloat over other people’s sins but takes its delight in the truth. Love always bears up, always trusts, always hopes, always endures.
I do not diminish value of the hope that desires something better. Viktor Frankl wrote that when the light of hope left his fellow concentration camp inmates, it was certain they were not long for this world. In fact, the hope of a pending Allied liberation which for years did not come actually exacerbated the frequency of the life-exhausting despair of lost hope. The need to hope is strongly correlated with survival.
But for those who seek to follow Christ, hope is more than a hoped for better situation or outcome: It is a vibrant, joyous, trust-filled word that (with faith and love) provides the foundation of our spiritual journey, fills us with peace, keeps us forward-focused.
We don't just "hope" God loves us, we trust God loves us. We don't just hope God will guide us; our hope is proved true each day through prayer, medication, tending the needs and wants of others, fellowship, study, worship and a persistent reaching for God in response to God's perpetual reaching for us. We don't hope that we ourselves, our children and our grandchildren will have lives of purpose; rather we, having experienced the joy of service in Jesus Name and the delight of seeking diligently to understand God's message to us, are certain of its availability and value.
We experience a different level of anxiety and fear when we have hope; in folks with a deep and mature faith, there is a marked difference in the way they process uncertainty and how danger is addressed. If this were not so, folks who minister in dangerous places (whether in this country or around our world) would be far fewer and their service brief.
So, my friend, if "hope" is something that leaves you feeling a little deflated, maybe a different approach might give you a lift!
1 Corinthians 13:6-10 Love does not gloat over other people’s sins but takes its delight in the truth. Love always bears up, always trusts, always hopes, always endures.
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