(Our downstairs office)
Let
us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess,
for he who promised is faithful.
for he who promised is faithful.
Hebrews 10:23
In this difficult time of moral mentorlessness, political chaos, and the "soma" of show business, what is needed is hope.
Hope: the mood of expectation that comes from a promise that something good is going to happen.
When I hope, I expect. "Expectation" is the mood that characterizes hope. Hope is expectation, based on a promise that has been given.
It seems that every day Linda and I meet someone who has lost hope. Loss of hope produces stagnancy and passivity. And depression. The loss of hope threatens life.
How important is hope? Lewis Smedes writes:
Real hope leads to activity, because it is attached to a promise that fuels the sense of expectation. The hope-filled, expectant person prepares for the promised, coming event.
A husband and wife are said to be "expecting" when she is pregnant with their inborn child. The reality of this hope is seen in their active preparation for the promised one to arrive. They create a space in their home for the newborn to dwell. They buy clothes and toys. They think and dream and pray. Hope, grounded in a promise of something good, is joy-filled.
Hope is different than "wishing." "Wishing" is not attached to a promise, and hence is devoid of the sense of expectation. The wishing person is inactive. The person who wishes to win the gazillion-dollar lottery does not quit their job and sell their house. When no promise is given, passivity reigns.
How can I overcome hopelessness and begin to hope again? I remember.
"Remembering " plays a role in "hoping." My spiritual journal, which is a record of God's activity in my life, helps me to remember. My journal includes God's promises to me, and promises realized. I have many stories where things looked hopeless, and then life returned. When I re-read and re-meditate on my journals, I am filled with hope. I remember the deeds of the Lord in my life. I come to know God, in whom I have placed my trust, and makes good on his promises. I am then in a good spiritual place. It affects how I look at the unseen future. I see that "he who promised is faithful."
I am intentional about remembering. This includes carrying lists of God's blessings to me, and looking at them often. I have found that a hoping person...
Hope: the mood of expectation that comes from a promise that something good is going to happen.
When I hope, I expect. "Expectation" is the mood that characterizes hope. Hope is expectation, based on a promise that has been given.
It seems that every day Linda and I meet someone who has lost hope. Loss of hope produces stagnancy and passivity. And depression. The loss of hope threatens life.
How important is hope? Lewis Smedes writes:
“There is nothing more important in this whole world than
keeping hope alive in the human spirit. I am convinced that hope is so close to
the core of all that makes us human that when we lose hope we lose something of
our very selves. And in the process we lose all reason for striving for the
better life we were meant to live, the better world that was meant to be. Let
me put it as baldly as I can: there is nothing, repeat nothing, more critical
for any one of us, young or old or anywhere in between, than the vitality of
our hope.” (Smedes, Keeping Hope Alive: For a Tomorrow We Cannot Control, p. 6)
Real hope leads to activity, because it is attached to a promise that fuels the sense of expectation. The hope-filled, expectant person prepares for the promised, coming event.
A husband and wife are said to be "expecting" when she is pregnant with their inborn child. The reality of this hope is seen in their active preparation for the promised one to arrive. They create a space in their home for the newborn to dwell. They buy clothes and toys. They think and dream and pray. Hope, grounded in a promise of something good, is joy-filled.
Hope is different than "wishing." "Wishing" is not attached to a promise, and hence is devoid of the sense of expectation. The wishing person is inactive. The person who wishes to win the gazillion-dollar lottery does not quit their job and sell their house. When no promise is given, passivity reigns.
How can I overcome hopelessness and begin to hope again? I remember.
"Remembering " plays a role in "hoping." My spiritual journal, which is a record of God's activity in my life, helps me to remember. My journal includes God's promises to me, and promises realized. I have many stories where things looked hopeless, and then life returned. When I re-read and re-meditate on my journals, I am filled with hope. I remember the deeds of the Lord in my life. I come to know God, in whom I have placed my trust, and makes good on his promises. I am then in a good spiritual place. It affects how I look at the unseen future. I see that "he who promised is faithful."
I am intentional about remembering. This includes carrying lists of God's blessings to me, and looking at them often. I have found that a hoping person...
...remembers the deeds of
God in their life;
...remembers God-promises
given, and God-promises fulfilled;
...makes God their trust
today, and each day;
...dwells on the promises
of God in Scripture;
...listens for God's voice,
and his promises;
...is expectant;
...is active, since real
hope always leads to present vitality.
I encourage a hopeless person to list, and thereby remember, the deeds of the Lord in their life. Write down ways God has been faithful to them. I have seen this result in a refocusing and re-membering of the person, as the members of their heart are put together again.
Another antidote for hopelessness is connectedness to the Jesus-community. Hopelessness isolates people; unattended-to isolation breeds hopelessness. Be intentional about being part of a small group. Be intentional about gathering with others on Sunday mornings. Many times I have come on a Sunday morning, holding on to some fear in my heart, only to find it lifted and removed as we meet with the Lord together.