On Hope

After a lot of disappointments in the last few years I have been comparing my sources of hope to those of my spiritual heroes. There are a lot of overlays with faith but I'm trying to mostly stick to hope. Bear with me… these are the questions that I am pondering and I would love to hear feedback/thoughts. Again, these are not definitive answers, just thoughts.

• What is hope?

• Where should it come from?

• What is the hope of the modern day Christian?
• What hopes do I harbor as a modern day Cuban-American Christian?

• Do they line up with what the bible says?

Hope - "feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best" or to desire with expectation of obtainment and in Christianity it usually applies to God's promises.

Hope is so pivotal to my well being in life. Without it my motivation dies and my heart starts asking "why try?" It's like playing in a fourth quarter of a basketball game and being 20 points down with a minute to go. This is usually called "garbage time" and the contributions made have very little meaning. Everything changes if there is a chance, a hope that the situation will turn around. In these cases no matter the odds, or difficulty, the heart rages to new heights and one incredible things are done.

Ever seen Jason Lezak's comeback in the 2008 4x100 relay? Down a body length at the start of his leg, Phelp's dream of 8 gold medals on the line, against one of the best sprinters in the world … Start at the 3 minute mark if you want to see the short version.

 

Hope's function is to breathe life into the heart when it wants to quit. It is the element that makes you risk it all and believe that it something can happen.

So where did awesome giants of the faith get their hope? Looking at the lives of spiritual giants like Joseph, Abraham, and David I see a few things that were true in all of their lives. There was a promise directly from God to the individual, Joseph had a dream, Abraham a promised son and an enormous family, and David a Kingdom. There was a season of testing/trials/suffering which varied in length and type. They mostly held true/faithful to God during the test and ultimately God accomplished his promise. I'll refer to the full cycle as a "God adventure. "

So does this still happen? What is the hope of the modern day Christian? I think most people would say heaven, and I don't disagree but is there a hope for here and now? Does God really have a plan for my life here on earth? It is not that the endless adventures and discoveries that await us in Heaven aren't enough (For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. Romans 8:18). I just believe that there is a purpose for our lives here on earth.

It takes a lot to believe that God still takes us on hope/faith adventures like those in the present time. In my life I can only think of a few of these that I can honestly say were from God and went through the whole cycle. They have been both the most trying and most rewarding times. There are a lot that are being tested right now, and I'm in the dark part of the cycle were it seems that God will not come through.

If you're in the fire, keep believing, keep hoping … there's no way that our situation is a longer shot than Sarah/Abraham having their son Isaac at 90ish. If you're searching for a hope … keep asking and take it as a challenge. God wants to be more intimate with you.