Hope…

Hope.

Hope is such a little word…
It is just four letters and yet this little, one syllable word conveys such powerful meaning.

If we were to take away the letter on the end of the word hope, we would find our word altered and yet, the change is ever so slight. Hope facilitates joy and in that joy, we hop. Granted as adults, we do not leap so much. However, children in their innocence and naivety, exuberantly hop. I love to watch young children as they are learning to hop and jump. It is joy they exhibit and in its purest form. To hope is to have joy. Even in the most troubling of times, we can have joy. Luke 6: 23a tells us to, “Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy for behold, your reward is great in heaven…” Hope is essential for human existence.

Although when most eagerly desired, hope cannot be easily found. Oh, we search relentlessly for it, turning over every stone and rock, spending all that we have and all that we are in search of it. And for a time, we think we have captured hope. For there are many things that bring temporary hope or a transient hope, but true hope that satisfies in every situation and for all time is allusive. And when we cannot find it, we lie down in despair, cocooned in our covers, ironically enough, waiting in hope, for death.

It’s true, we cannot live without hope. We are hope-seeking, hope-loving creatures. It is innate for the species human, to crave hope. We live for hope. Hope has been placed in our biophysical, psychological makeup. Hope is right there in the DNA of every cell in our bodies. We exist to hope.

So how does this work, when we have lost hope or better still, how does one find true hope when our ephemeral hope has gone? Can one be transformed once again towards true hope? Is this possible?

It is. But to do so, we must recreate meaning by redefining hope which will inevitably redefine the miracle. To accomplish this we need a life cherishing moment that awakens us, quickens us, to true hope. If you are a hope seeker in need, look no more. God is love giving and grace lavishing and He stands at the ready to give you true hope.

Hope is just a little word, but so hard for us to define. If I were to give it a go, I would define true hope as the desire for God. This hope is so potent and influential that it can move a love-giving, grace-lavishing God to act. True hope within the heart of man can indeed be mighty and magnificent. But true hope is only found in seeking to know the One who gave hope and placed this desire and desperate longing in every part of you. You ache in pain with the hope for God and He is the only cure. To redefine hope, we must recognize our need of and for God.

If we could dissect completely the phenomena of hope, study its affect on human existence and then describe it worthily, honestly, and transparently, would we not conclude that hope is the catalyst of miracles?

If we want true hope we must sincerely seek God. And in that search we will discover true hope. God will move heaven and earth to give it to us. He is tenderhearted, merciful and longs to rescue. And in our new found hope, our miracle is redefined.

Isa 49:13 Sing, heavens! Shout for joy, earth! Let the mountains burst into song! The LORD will comfort His people; He will have pity on His suffering people.