What Have We Placed Our Hope In?
People seem to be saying that everyone needs hope. “Can we really survive without hope?” It is as if hope is a commodity we try to buy or discover. But there is such a thing called “false hope”. What a bummer to have confidence in a false hope. We must figure out what “real hope” is. It for sure must be something sturdy. Bigger and stronger than my problem.
Hebrews 11:1 says, “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”
I have a grasp on the meaning of faith. Faith is our ability to trust something. Faith is the object/person/thing in which we place our trust. For example, I have faith it will rain tomorrow. I have faith there is a God. I have faith the other drivers will obey the traffic rules.
But what is hope?
The other day Amy received a gift in the mail. It was a special ring that simply says “HOPE”. Ever since seeing it I have been pondering what hope really is. That friend who gave us the ring sent me a quote that illuminates this idea for us really well.
““We mistakenly expect our faith to make our losses hurt less, but it doesn’t. Our faith gives us incredible amounts of strength and courage; it keeps us from being swallowed up by despair, but it doesn’t make the losses hurt any less. Our faith keeps the pain from incapacitating us. God will stand with us in our pain, but He will not remove it.””
What is interesting about my present position as the cancer guy is that I am not stuck in the theoretical ponderings of what hope is. With a terminal diagnosis and a working mind, I am delighted and invited to think more realistically about this challenge. Here we go!
What is Hope?
Hope is remembering the real source of love and strength is in God (namely Jesus) and not ourselves. If we decide to put our hope in ourselves, this object is pretty small and quite weak.
My hope is not merely in our medical solutions to be effective, but that the powerful One has His plan and that it will ultimately happen. This cannot be a sneaky form of apathy though.
Hope is knowing our security is wrapped up in something and Someone bigger than ourselves. When we honestly assess our own strength, we know it is very small and we have little control.
My hope as a Christ follower is that the events of the life of Jesus and the resurrection demonstrate His ability to conquer the greatest foe, death. In His death and resurrection He offers me hope in my death and hopeful resurrection. Resurrection is the pathway to death’s crushing defeat. That foe, that monster, that hideous cancer will not get the last word because the Author of Life will bring me back to life at the fullest in total union with Him.
Hope is the belief that this vision of a beautiful future will come. We hope to be with God forever in Heaven. This Hope is what allows us to endure all kinds of hardship here.
The men and women described in Hebrews chapter 11 are commended for their persevering faith in God to be faithful to His promise. It is repeated a couple times that they did not receive the promise while here. That has to mean that the promise was delivered to them when they arrived in Heaven. Heaven is that ultimate Promise Land. Oh, I cannot wait to get there. But I also can wait. I somehow want to be here as long as possible. Go figure...
As the above quote says, hope is not that my suffering will be eased or that the pain will go away. My hope is that I will have sufficient courage so that now as always Jesus will be exalted in my body. My Hope is that God strengthens me to endure well. Personally, I want to shine for Him all the brighter as the fire underneath me gets hotter.
I hope these ponderings about hope encourage you. If you have a response or thought, text me at 573-999-1776 or comment on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. Blessings!