Hope

Recently someone raised the question whether hope could be switched on at will. Was it a science or something? Especially after I claimed that when you find yourself hopeless you should simply acquire it by hoping.

Good question. I should not be allowed to be flippant about such a scarce commodity in today’s modern life.

I decided to do a little etymological study on the word hope. I suspected that there would be some higher thoughts to be gleaned from this topic.

This is the result.

Hope is a common translation for some interesting ideas. Looking at some of the older languages like Hebrew, we find that hope is a cord especially derived from that which binds together. The hope thought is also illustrated as something hoped for, confidence, or even a pool of water.

Hope could be patience, trust, assurance, refuge, boldness, surety, scrutiny, expectation and just waiting.

In Greek there is a waiting in expectation with confident pleasure.

Being hopeless is being without anything that makes it worth going on. No hope of any expected pleasure. No assurance or confidence that the dawning of the next day would bring a brighter tomorrow. Exactly the point! – you might say – this is why people commit suicide.

This might be partially true, but in allowing yourself to go into such a state you need to completely deny your Savior and His ever nearing return. The time thereof no one knows so it could be tomorrow, but since you gave up today, you wouldn’t get to see that, tomorrow.

Hope is like a race. More so like a time trial. There is nobody but you on the field; you race against the clock. You fall, but you get up, because others may have fallen too and since you will only know your final position in the race once all contenders are done, it simply doesn’t make sense to convince yourself halfway that you will not win the race. Why did you enter if you didn’t have hope that you might do well? This is a rhetorical question. We all enter after all, because this is the race of life and no one gets to stand on the side lines.

I believe you are born with hope. This is why the baby doesn’t give up during the birth. His DNA compels him to seek a brighter future outside where there is more risk, but also greater rewards. All parents have great hopes for their children and therefore instill a sense of a brighter tomorrow. What you are not born with is the knowledge of the end, but God tells us what the end looks like. We choose to accept His version, or we believe there is no triumphant end where our sorrows get conquered by joy and we consequently become hopeless.

Hope is like a pool of water in a dry and barren desert. We don’t stop our journey toward it when we thirst for drink and have the oasis in sight. Hope is a lifeline when you are washed out to sea. No one simply lets the rope go when it is in their grasp. When others are but a stretch away do you not grab hold of safety?

Hope is a refuge from the evils of this world, and though my body is put upon a stake I have hope in The One who overcame death and calls me to follow in faith. But don’t think for a moment that this is like giving up. Oh, no, this is the ultimate walk of faith, and faith cultivates hope, and hope sets the soul free to love relentlessly. A love that will not give in and will suffer to the greatest extreme for those who depend upon it. Dying to self is never suicide, but instead it is the most worthwhile attempt to grab hold of life, for the promise of such a life is an eternal one. Giving up on your unbending self will and taking up the will of your Savior Jesus Christ will not only give you hope, but also life abundantly.

Hopeless, are you? Then it is because you have no faith and your action will bear no resemblance to love. Love doesn’t give up. Love is eternal. Love doesn’t keep a record of wrongs, but is ever hoping and never hopeless. Love conquers the heart, and when it breaks, love is the glue that mends it again.

Giving up on life is not only foolish, but simply evil. And the ruler of evil has caught you in his snare and convinced you that you’ll be a hero when you make it your last stand to die for yourself. You are so mistaken, because Christ already died for you, and His death was enough to give you life eternal.