-James Matthew Barrie
I first heard this quote several years ago and I immediately loved it. It's similar to the prophet Jeremiah's statement, "Without hope, the people perish." There are songs of hope, stories of hope, reports of hope; hope is something that we humans seem to long for deep in our souls. Hope pulls us from dark places, it gives us light at the end of long tunnels.
...but what is hope?
How many times have you heard "hope" in the following kinds of contexts:
- We just bought a new house, I hope the market starts to turn around now.
- We just took our car in again! I hope they finally figure it out this time!
- I hope (insert sports team here) can hold it together this season.
- We're hoping the biopsy results come back negative.
When using the word "hope" like this, you could easily exchange it with "wish".
- I "wish" the market would start to turn around...
- I "wish" they would just figure out what's wrong with my car...
- I "wish" (insert sports team here) would hold it together...
- We're really "wishing" the biopsy will be negative...
...because really, you could follow every one of these statements with "...but I don't know if that will be the case or not."
I think we've lost something in the word "hope" when we have reduced it to a wish. James Matthew Barrie's quote just doesn't have the same punch when you exchange "hope" with "wish"...
...so what is hope then?
I think the best definition I have heard yet is from my pastor, "Hope is to look forward with joyful anticipation to what is yet to come." To hope, is to know, not wish, but know that something is going to happen, and that something is good and desirable. Hope is something of substance, it is something that can be held, clung to even, sometimes desperately so. It is to know that whatever my circumstances are right now, there is something good coming. There is relief. There is a light at the end of the dark and difficult tunnel.
Hope is not a bet, it is the "sure thing".
Hope overcomes the darkness.
Hope conquerors depression and anxiety and pain.
Hope is the anchor in the raging storm.
Hope is a "thing", not a thought, not an emotion, not a feeling.
You own hope. You get to choose whether it is put away in a locked box of despair, or pulled out into the daylight and put to work. You get to choose where your hope is placed. You get to choose whether you use your hope as a wish in the great unknown, or as the sure thing that it is intended to be to light your path and give you direction when the way is unsure.
This is only possible though, if you place your hope carefully.
Think about it, what can be known? What can be looked forward to with certainty...with joyful anticipation?
Your investments?
Your job?
Your retirement?
Your health?
Your relationships?
Your life?
What becomes evident fairly quickly is that "sure things" are hard to come by...
At the end of Jesus' time here physically among us, He is talking with His disciples and giving them some last thoughts before He returns to the Father. In the course of the conversation He lays out some difficult expectations. He tells them that if they stay true to what He has taught them, things will be difficult. They will have trouble. They will have conflict. They may even face death directly because of Him. Where is the hope here? Why would anyone willingly choose that life?
Jesus' answer comes in a statement, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in Me." Believe...trust...place your confidence in... Do not let your hearts be troubled, place your hope in God and in Me.
He is the sure thing. God is the sure thing. The only sure thing.
He is from everlasting to everlasting. He is the same yesterday today and forever. He has no beginning and He has no end. He was, and He is, and He is still yet to come. He has brought all things into existence with a spoken word. He is the starbreather, the life giver, and the One who holds all things together even as I am writing this.
He is the only One who can handle the unique circumstances of your life. He is the giver and sustainer of your life whether you know it or not. He is the only One who can be trusted with your life...and He loves you.
So what hope does He bring? What light does He shine at the end of your tunnel?
The hope that He and He alone can offer is that He isn't afraid or intimidated by your difficult and painful and troubling circumstances; He can handle them. He can do better than handle them, He promises to turn them into something wonderful and beautiful and good...if you let Him. Better yet, He promises to teach you to not to be troubled in this life, to not be overwhelmed, to not be crushed, to not be undone; He promises to teach you and develop in you the character necessary to face whatever may come in life with hope, with joyful anticipation of a good future.
...and what is the good future that He promises to bring about?
He promises justice, and righteousness, and peace, and joy, and unending good life, and purpose, and mission, and love.
He doesn't tell us exactly what that will look like, I think in part because the best we can fathom will actually pale in comparison to what He actually has in mind. I think we can expect a long and eternal future of being amazed at how much better it is than we could have ever imagined.
...but that is tomorrow, that is the joyful anticipation of what is yet to come, what about today?
Today is Faith, today is the substance of my life formed by Whom I have chosen to place my hope. Faith is how I choose to face today because of the future that I am looking forward to with great joy.
Faith is how I move toward the light. More on that next time...
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