Hope

Hope. I use the word a lot. I “hope” that the Longhorns will win the Big 12 this year. I “hope” that I will run a 3:45 time for my marathon in September. I “hope” that when I get home I will find the house in complete order. I “hope” but the reality is I don’t really expect to get anything I hope for. I may hope the Longhorns win this year, but after a long slide from the top of the pile in 2005, and the rebuilding of the program under a new coach, finishing in the middle of the pack is probably more likely. I may hope that I can run a sub-4 marathon in September, but the reality is I will probably hit somewhere around 4:15 and that is only if I am able to keep my mind sharp and my body together. I may hope that when I get home today I will find the house clean and sparkling, but the reality is that we have two tornados, ages 7 and 8 and they leave a path of destruction (and toys) everywhere they go. I hope for these and many other things, but the reality is I don’t really expect I will ever get them because my hopes have no connection with reality. My hopes are little more than far-off, impossible wishes which whet my appetite but never fill me up. As such, I give little weight to my hopes. My hopes have little impact on how I think or act. Why would they? I will never have them.

Every now and again, I bump into someone who, like me, has hope, but this hope impacts them in ways I do not understand. Like me, they hope for things they do not have, but they orient their entire lives around these hopes. They order their finances, adjust their schedules, plan their retirement, all around something they want but do not have. It seems crazy. Why would they do this? Everyone knows you only hope for things that are not possible, for things you want but will never have. These people seem not to have gotten that memo. It is almost as if they really do believe that though they do not presently have what they desire, one day they will. It is this one belief that transforms them.

It is their belief that they really will one day possess what they do not have that gives them a joy I cannot fathom. They seem to be implicitly happy, even when they have nothing to be happy about. Though, they would claim they do. They are going to get what makes them happy. It is their belief that they will one day possess that keeps them calm when they should be freaking out. At least, I would be freaking out! Yet, they are calm. They don’t seem worried. It is going to be OK. They are going to get what they really want. It is their belief that they will one day possess that gives them a courage I wish I had. They take risks, crazy risks, and do things I would only do in my dreams—and why wouldn’t they? No matter what they do, they know they are going to get what they really want. It is this belief, this amazing belief called hope which enables them to make it through life, all of it, with a grace and composure I wish I had. I want to be like them, but to be like them I have to have hope.

I want to hope like these rare individuals hope, but that means I have to know, really know that I will get what I long for. And, I have to long for something that really matters. Clean houses are great, but they are far from the stuff that gets you through life. As a follower of Christ, the thing I long for the most is God himself. I long to know God, to possess him and be possessed by him. When I catch glimpses of this I always want more. I am filled with a deep yearning to once more catch a glimpse of God because he is the one who makes me feel happy. Sometimes, on darker days, I will find myself thinking of how God is with me, knowing that one day I will catch more than just a glimpse of him. In these thoughts I find I am a bit stronger and a bit calmer, more able to keep moving forward. Sometimes when things don’t go my way and I get a little bit cranky about it (imagine that!), I will remind myself that God is with me and that he will one day take me fully to himself and I won’t have to worry about not having what I want or need because he will care for me. In these thoughts I feel encouraged and I am able to let the crankiness pass. It is these thoughts of God, of possessing him and being possessed by him that keep me going, that keep me moving day in and day out. Come to think of it. That sounds a whole lot like hope.


A fellow traveler,

Blake


What’s my next step?

We encourage you to consider engaging in the following as a way of deepening your own faith.

Experience God in suffering: Hope is a yearning for that which we know is possible. For the people of God, we hope that we will one day fully possess God and be possessed by him. We know this is possible because we now possess and are possessed by God’s Holy Spirit. We learn to hope when we depend upon the presence and power of God in our times of suffering (Romans 5.1-5). It is in suffering that we learn that God does not leave us or abandon us but that he remains with us. When we learn this, we long to possess more of this loving God. We hope! This week, consider an area or experience of suffering present in your life. As you engage this area in thought or physical experience, seek to pray Psalm 23, reminding yourself of God’s presence with you in the moment and in these experiences. Learn to depend on God in suffering rather than seeking to resolve the issue and end your experience with pain. In this experience, be open to God being enough. Allow him to carry you through and to comfort you. In this experience, you will taste and see God and his goodness and you will long for more. You will hope!