Here are some things I've hoped for in the past few years:
...the Cubs would win a world series
...my car would magically be fixed
...I'd get a $5,000 raise

You get the idea. None of those things have yet to come to fruition - the Cubs haven't won a series since 1908, my car has only once or twice magically fixed itself, and the same part mysteriously broke again soonthereafter, and my raises up to this point would not paint a graph of a $5,000 raise in one fell swoop.

But I hope for them nonetheless. Is that the same hope that Jesus is serving up like the lunchlady with the ladel full of walking tacos?

After all, it is said that this hope cannot fail us. And let me tell you, I'm fully prepared to live a long, healthy life and never see the Cubs win the world series.

In the apostle Paul's letter to the church in Rome, he says "...we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us."

I think it helps to put hope in its correct place. Hope is not something that God is providing. Hope is a natural byproduct of the glory of God. This is why when the Cubs lose every year, hope has failed me. Hope in and of itself can be based on something real or it can be based on something imaginary. The Cubs haven't won in almost a century, and between their injury-riddled roster and their less-than-stellar coaching for the past couple years, they haven't provided anything that results in hope. Still, I hope. You can make a similar pattern for the raise and for my car.

What God is providing is His Glory. That's something real, something that is present and accessible (although there's probably a need for someone to break down what that actually means). I have hope because I understand God's nature and character. I understand what God wants for this world and the people who live here. I have hope that there is something better avaiable and that God's Kingdom is here.

So that leads us to (what else?) more questions...

Is the hope provided by the glory of God the same hope that results from suffering?

How does suffering produce hope? Does suffering produce hope and perseverance produce hope? Or is it only the process of persevering through suffering and creating character that produces hope?

And what's happened when something I've hoped for, maybe even something that agrees with scripture, doesn't come to be?

I'll share some brief thoughts on those next. What questions do you have about hope?

Labels: Favorites, Jesus