I have to admit that I don’t fully comprehend hope. It is my contention that hope is the least understood, least defined, yet one of the most important companions one can associate with as you travel through life. Oddly enough, it is a word that is consistently used in our daily speech. I know it isn’t passive and must have great importance or it wouldn’t be included as one of three in the oft quoted Bible passages: “Now abideth Faith, Hope, Love…”
Hope touches everything we do, and a great deal of what we say. Simply look at how it impacts others when the word is spoken – there is anticipation, there often is excitement, there are ‘possibilities’. Consider what would happen if the word didn’t exist. Where would we be if there was no hope?! Still… I don’t understand or appreciate exactly what it is/does and without understanding do I know how to effectively ’employ’ it? That it is an important component in our foundation is obvious, but the issue is what is hope and how should I integrate it.
The place to begin in a study (whatever you are needing/wanting to know) is the word – how is the word described and defined in scripture. In Romans we see that hope is the product from tribulation to perseverance to character (5:3). Romans 5:5 states that hope doesn’t disappoint. In Romans 8, Paul says that, “… hope that is seen is not hope, for why does one still hope for what he sees.” In another of Paul’s writings (1 Thessalonians 4:13) not having hope is equated with sorrow – that those without Christ in their lives are described as without hope.
I can site many other scriptural references about hope, but does this get me any closer to personalizing the word for myself? It does help in assisting me to appreciate the word and what it does but as in all things pertaining to a quality of understanding, it takes personalizing to make the word ‘real’. However… in considering one particular scripture, I find a compelling picture – Hebrews 6:19 tells us that hope is the anchor of our soul. When you consider an anchor you see that it is strong, fixed, and keeps us safely tied to the source of our hope. For me, this means that hope is strong and able to sustain me in my times of trial.
… but, what do you believe?
