But what do we put our faith in? Our circumstances? Our relationships? Our selves? I could ask the same for hope. I mean, my friends would probably agree that I'm a very hopeful and optimistic person, but I have never experienced such a testing and stretching of my hope as I am experiencing now.
I'm realizing how much I've put my hope in my circumstances (are things the way I want them to be?), my relationships (am I being treated the way I want to be?), and my dreams (will my life be the way I think it should be?) If things aren't as I expected them to be (which they almost never are), does my world crumble and my hope shatter? It has, so often...
"But hope that is seen is no hope at all..." to quote one of my favorite Bible-authors, Paul. "But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently." (Romans 8:24-25, NIV)
Of course! Just because what I hoped for hasn't happened yet, does that mean I shouldn't hope for it anymore? Just give it up?
In the words of Langston Hughes, "What happens to a dream deferred?" Or of the wisest man in history, Solomon: "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life." (Proverbs 13:12, NIV)
Okay, so don't give up hope, right? But...what if what I'm hoping for isn't guaranteed? I don't think Paul was talking about winning the Lottery when he said "wait for it patiently."
Which brings us back to my original question: What do we put our hope in?
My conclusion? The only thing that never changes: God. What does that mean to me? His Word. His promise of grace and eternal life for anyone who would choose to believe in him, and by believing, truly follow him by living like his son, Jesus Christ.
At the risk of sounding religious, I am growing more and more convinced on this mission-field that Jesus is what he said he was--the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE. I don't know what way to go in life, I don't know what truth to believe, and I don't have a real life without this hope of God's grace and favor.
THAT'S what I'm choosing to put my hope in, now. Nothing in this life is certain. Everything changes (best friends move, or get married, relationships grow or separate), can be taken away (people die, economies falter, thieves break into your car or house), or lost (natural disasters, homes destroyed, things are misplaced, people forgotten). Everything can disappoint you. Everyone can disappoint you. I would go so far as to say that everything and everyone WILL disappoint you, at some point.
That is, unless your hope is in something else--something that never fails (1 Cor 13).
If my hope is in the unchanging, all-knowing, all-powerful, all-loving, always-gonna-come-through-for-me God, well...WHAT CAN TOUCH ME? As Paul said in Romans 8, "If God is for me, WHO CAN BE AGAINST ME?"So, come on, trials! Bring on the rain! If fire is going to purify my faith, hope, and love, then turn up the flame!
(Yet, like Jesus prayed, if there is any other way, Father, please don't make me go through this suffering. Who in their right mind WANTS pain in their life?? But I'm preparing my heart to endure it, if what it brings afterward is greater than the pain itself.)
No pain, no gain, right? So, I'm getting ready for Round 2.
Please pray for my faith, hope, and love. I'm going to need them to fight the giants I'm facing...
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