Well, I am back on the blog after–well, I haven’t quite kept track how long I’ve been away–. Truth is, I even sat down to blog once or twice in the time between this blog and the last…but I never did manage to post anything. The reasons are many and varying.
Today, I’d like to write a little bit about hope. It’s a word that is scoffed by some, and cherished by others. There is great ambiguity as to just what role has to play in a believer’s life. Some would class hope with such detrimental traits as wishful-thinking, daydreaming, or vain ambition. I have, however, been discovering personally, just how relevant hope is.
Before I even attempt to make my point, I would like to begin by saying: there are many ways that hope can be defined, however, only ONE pertains to this post. When referring to HOPE, for the purposes of this post, I am referring to the intrinsic trust and expectancy believers may confidently place in their Father. I.E. An individual who HOPES in the Lord for protection and care does not wish that HE will provide protectection and care, he KNOWS it, however, he knows that without the Lord, his protection and care would be impossible…and thus the Lord IS his HOPE.
That brings me to my first point. The psalmist states “For You are my hope, O Lord God; You are my trust from my youth…” (Psa 71:5) This indicates that hope–far from being an abstract thing–is in fact, a being: Our Lord. If our HOPE is not just IN the Lord but IS the Lord then perhaps our commonly held perceptions of hope must be altered.
Earlier this year, I myself was placing my hope IN the Lord for certain THINGS. I have had to repent (turn from) this way of thinking. In my situation, hoping in the Lord FOR something was placing more value upon that think than on My Lord. It was indeed quite like wishful thinking… “Well, Lord, I KNOW you can bring this about…so I’ll just pray and hope that you do…” More and more during my reading times I was confronted with verses about the Lord being HOPE, which in turn made me re-evaluate my thinking.
Certainly, as believers, we have the right to depend on the Lord, to trust in His provision instead of taking up our own. I would never say otherwise…it is the essence of Son-hood to depend upon the Father. Rather, I am saying that there is a definite distinction between placing hope IN the Lord and the Lord being one’s hope. True, the Lord does speak His promises to us, and we as believers can hope–or wait expectantly– for those promises to be fulfilled. As long as we remember while we hope how our hope was made possible; Without our Lord, nothing that is would be. Hope, of itself, cannot exist without the Lord. We cannot exist without the Lord.
I’ll finish with an illustration:
A fisherman sets out to sea (he’s a deep sea fisherman) and fails to check his weather charts. When he is too far from land to get to its safety in any reasonable amount of time, he notices that an extremely large and ferocious hurricane is headed straight toward him. His only HOPE: the radio with which he can call the coast guard for assitance.
Hope, as used in this illustration is the means to survival, the strong tower, that which can be depended on.
The more I think on this, the more I am assured: The Lord can be my only hope.
Courtney
