What is HOPE?
The Oxford dictionary defines hope as "A feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen."
We've all experienced feelings of hope and expectation at some point in our life. The hope can come in many forms such as being hopeful for a good year or being hopeful for good health. Hope almost always elicits positive feelings because we are looking forward to something. It also causes us to anticipate those things we want in our life. However, as we hope for things in the future we must be careful not to let it become worry or get sad if things don't happen or don't happen the way we want. I'm a planner so when I place often place my hope in plans. If something falls through, you immediately see my emotions all over my face. Now, I know you probably can think back to a time where you have been let down by someone or something, but we usually focus so much on the hope of the positive thing that we fail to remember that the opposite thing could happen instead.
So much is packed up into those four little letters and I have heard myself say "I hope..." countless times throughout my life. I've hoped I would get a job or good grades. I've hope for good students and positive interactions with people. I hoped for a house, for a husband and for children. Although many of these things brought feelings of joy and thankfulness when they happened, there are other times that my hoping caused me to deal with feelings of sadness or stress because what I wanted didn't happen. Yes, the key word there is I. I am not the center of the word hope, yet so many times I think I am. I think I can take control and cause things to happen as I want just so I can experience the positive feelings hope can bring at the end.
Due to all the above, it isn't surprising that the Bible has things to say about the concept of hope either because it's something we all experience. Although I'm not an expert on hope and I don't call myself a Biblical scholar, I do know Romans is filled with verses about hope. In Romans, we are encouraged to hope as well as remember why we hope. We are even told about who can give us true hope. In addition, there are boundless stories of people in the Bible who exhibit feelings of hope while awaiting a Savior. Even now we are currently waiting for the return of this giver of hope so we rest in the believe that He is going to do what He said He would. Should this be the only hope in which we rest our minds? Can we rest our hope in ourselves or in other things or is will this only bring failure?
The ideas that occupy our minds in terms of hope can be seen as trivial or powerful and can stem from a few sources. Being hopeful for something can lead us to action which can in turn make an impact on those around us, while other things may just lead us to a good meal. When speaking about the true meaning of the word hope, we could talk for hours about how our hearts are filled with peace as we place our hope and trust in the things that are to come. It isn't surprising that these are often the things that can lead us to action. The things that are to come are promised to be better, so why not place our hope in this? We must let our hope in the one who gives us passions move us forward. Oftentimes when people are hopeful, they express their feelings to others which can then move others to action as well. It can become a domino effect of hopefulness in whatever it is that people are looking forward to accomplishing or seeing happen. However, other types of hope seem a little more trivial because they don't move us to action. Are we settling for a hope that doesn't really satisfy?
Of course we do live in an age where we want things immediately, so hoping in something can become challenging or old if we don't see results/progress within a certain time period which we deem acceptable. Why do we think we deserve to have things in our timing? I'm guilty of this quite often and it's definitely been something I've learned about in the last year. Being impatient can cause us to stop placing our hope in what we really should and then replace it with things less secure. In this case we sometimes stop believing what we know is true or what is to come and instead we try to take matters into our own hands as we hope in ourselves. We are one of the least secure sources of hope. I know I like to take control of things because I trust myself, but if you are anything like me, taking things into our own hands only messes things up and shows a lack of hope in the one who can map out things perfectly. Our issue of wanting things immediately shouldn't cause us to give up, but they do. We forget our purpose and hope because we start settling for being hopeful in ourselves or our own way of doing things. Instead, our hope must constantly be placed in the one who is the giver of hope. We must allow our hope to lead us to action even if the baby-steps or bumpy road isn't what we desire. We must trust in something and someone bigger than ourselves and know it's worth the ride.
As I write about hope, I started to think about the countless children without a family or who are in need of adoption. They hope for a family. Families hope to adopt or to care for these children. They hope to show love to these children. They wait months during the adoption process as they raise money and complete homestudies and sometimes things fall through. Sometimes agencies go under and the money disappears. Sometimes mothers back out and decide to keep a child. Sometimes it's not what they had hoped for. The expectation of something greater starts to alter when things don't go according to the plan. Hopes come crashing down. Hopes are crushed. These things aren't us relying on ourselves so much as they are us relying on the way we think they should happen. Although we can hope in things like this, we have to monitor our motives and expectations. Oftentimes, we even have to place our hope in something even if we don't know the outcome because that's what the Lord has called us to. Doing this requires a trust that is bigger than ourselves and that's the point. He wants us to trust him and place our hope in HIM and not in ourselves in any way.
May we constantly allow the Lord to be the source of this hope so he can lead us to whatever he has in store for us. Again, it may be challenging and it may not be what you thought was best/easiest, but I can assure you if you stick with the Lord and let Him guide your every step as you place hope in Him, he will not let you down. May our hearts/desires align to His heart/desires.
As we make resolutions and think about this new year, let us place our Hope in Him and let him lead us this year.
1 comment:
Great post. Wonderfully expressed.
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