It’s Friday…Even So, Choose Hope!

I woke up this morning and I immediately began to process and analyze this question: Which of the following virtues do I ponder most on, faith, hope, or love? I would assume to the average follower of Christ of these three virtues a lot of emphasis is given to faith and love, but much less to hope.  Would you agree? Perhaps this is because of what the English language has done to hope. It can imply a casual wish, an unrealistic fantasy, or a desperate longing. But the Biblical word is much more certain (thank God!); it is a confident expectation of what hasn’t happened yet but will. And it’s always looking for God’s goodness.

Many followers of Jesus wish for God’s goodness but don’t really expect to see it in this age. They interpret difficult circumstances as evidence that God is holding out on them, letting them down, or punishing them. They see the world through disappointment, bitterness, or cynicism. They know God is good; they just don’t experience Him that way. At least not yet.

“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you . . .” (Ephesians 1:18)

Citizens of the Kingdom of God are called to be relentless hopers. We are to expect goodness in every aspect of our lives, even when life seems on the surface to be taking a negative turn. We don’t look on the surface; we look deeper and acknowledge that even when we don’t understand, God is good. We see Him and others through lenses of hope, fully confident that the end of the story will thrill us and fulfill us. Instead of seeing the junk in other people, we see the treasures, no matter how hidden they are. Instead of reading the headlines with fear and anxiety, we read them as opportunities for God to intervene in this world. In other words, we read between the lines of life to discern the God we know to be faithful and true always.

So, let’s insist on hope. We may have to retrain our brain to think in different patterns, and we may need to tell our heart to handle disappointment differently than we ever have. Even So, Choose Hope! Let’s expect the Goodness of God in the land of the living. Let’s know the certainty of our calling and His delight in us. And let’s live as one whose hope can never be shaken. Never!

Have a hope-filled weekend. Make it better by worshiping The Lord with those who live in confident expectation for the promises of God because they know this is not all there is, the best is yet to come.

All For Jesus – Nothing More, Nothing Less, Nothing Else.

“He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, The King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see, to Him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.” (1 Timothy 6:15b-16)