Hope & Faith

 As I've kept studying hope, I kept being drawn back to one particular book of Scripture. The book of Romans has a lot to say about hope.

It doesn't take Paul long to start pointing toward our need for hope. Although the word hope doesn't appear until chapter 4, everything up to then points to our need for hope. 

As Paul outlines the fallenness of people, the sinful choices they have made, he is making a case for something. Even as Paul moves to talk about God's faithfulness to us, he's laying the groundwork for hope and its importance in our lives.

Abraham is widely remembered in Scripture and in our conversations for his faith, but alongside that comes hope. Romans 4:18 says:

"Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as had been said to him, 'So shall your offspring be'."

From and earthly perspective, Abraham having children and being the father of many nations wasn't possible. These words came when "his body was as good as dead" and "Sarah's womb was also dead." (Romans 4:19). Yes, Abraham still had hope that God could do it.

After reading this about Abraham, we see Paul move into talking about hope specifically. Romans 5:1-5 says:

"Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith in this grace in which we know stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us."

This makes sense with hope being "a characteristic of genuine faith in God" (Bridgeway Bible Dictionary), as I wrote about last week. And Abraham's story as recalled in Romans 4 is an example of this.

Hope is not in the things of this world. It is in God. It it in His promises. In His glory.

The hard part of all of this is that hope often grows most in the hard times of life - it's also when it is most challenged. That's when we're looking for something more, something beyond what this world offers. Because know so much of this world disappoints us. We put our hope in something on earth and it fails us.

But, Romans 5 tells us that when our hope is in God's glory, it doesn't put us to shame. Other translations say hope does not disappoint. Hope in God is something that won't fail us.

As William Barclay writes:

"When a man's hope is in God it cannot turn to dust and ashes. When a man's hope is in God it cannot be disappointed. When a man's hope is in the love of God it cannot be an illusion, for God is loving us with an everlasting love, which is backed by an everlasting power." (William Barclay, Letter to the Romans, pg 73)

It all comes down to where we place our hope. When our hope is in God, it is secure.

What is Hope?

 Hope . . .

What does it mean?

How do you hold onto it when it seems to be taken away regularly?

Is there a place we can actually place our hope that won't fail or disappoint us?

These are questions I asked in a post a few weeks ago.

I didn't have answers then, but they were questions that were pulling me to dig into Scripture to look for answers. I've spent the last few weeks looking at all the places in Scripture I could find the word hope - looking for answers to my questions.

I actually started with looking up the dictionary definition of hope.

The definition, according to Merriam-Webster dictionary, was actually much broader than I expected. I realized that when we use it in our everyday lives, the problem doesn't come from the way we define it; it comes from somewhere deeper.

I've tried to figure out to summarize the definition I found and I couldn't. So I am going to share the definition here. (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hope)

intransitive verb

1 :to cherish a desire with anticipation :to want something to happen or be true

transitive verb

1 :to desire with expectation of obtainment or fulfillment

2 :to expect with confidence

noun

1 :desire accompanied by expectation of or belief in fulfillment

     also :expectation of fulfillment or success

2 :someone or something on which hopes are centered

3 :something desired or hoped for

All of that seemed like what I hear and what I've talked and thought about when it comes to hope. So, there has to be something about it that we're still missing.

Why does the Bible talk about hope as being something we can be sure of?

If there's one thing we've learned as a whole in the last couple years, it's how quickly hope for something can disappear and we're left disappointed - trying to pick up the pieces again. Yes, as I read what the Bible has to say about hope, it seemed to point to something more stable, more sure.

As I was studying this, I found a definition of hope in my Bible dictionary that I found helpful. It says:

"Hope is a characteristic of genuine faith in God. Such hope is different from the hope people in general might speak of. It is not a mere wish for something, but a strong confidence that is placed in God." (Bridgeway Bible Dictionary, page 180)

That makes sense with my thoughts about it comes down to where we place our hope. 

The things that have disappointed and been suddenly yanked away in the last couple years are the things of this earth.

But God hasn't changed.

His Word hasn't changed.

His promises haven't changed.

So, a hope placed in God can't be taken away by something that happens in this world.

This is what gave the early Christians the boldness and the confidence to stand in the face of the opposition they faced. The book of Acts and Paul's letters are full of these declarations.

Near the end of his life and ministry, Paul says there words:

"And now it is because of my hope in what God has promised our ancestors that I am on trial today." (Acts 6:26)

We only have to skim a few of Paul's letters to the early church to know the price that he paid while holding onto this hope. There was something compelling about hope in what God has promised that kept Paul going, even in the face of difficult circumstances on earth.

So, I guess it all comes back to where we're placing our hope.

If it's in the things of this world, then we're going to find our hope easily shattered.

But, if it's in the things of God, then I can hold onto it no matter what this world brings our way.

It doesn't somehow make everything easy to place our hope in God and His promises. Life is still hard. But, it makes it possible not to lose all hope.

Lessons in Looking Back

 I posted the following as my Facebook status last week:

"Sometimes just knowing there's a name for what you're living with is a relief... even if it changes nothing, yet (before you ask, it's nothing serious going on, don't worry)"

While I'm not going to share in this space what exactly this is (at least not yet), there have been things related to it that I've been thinking about in the days since. And I wonder if some of those things are lessons that all of us could learn from.

When we have the perspective of looking back, as I have in this case, it can be easy to see some things as obvious that were missed at the time. We have a choice then, about how we respond. 

We can choose to get mad or frustrated or upset by the realization.

Or, we can acknowledge that our perspective is different now and we're seeing differently because we're not in the middle of it anymore.

Some of my favourite books on my shelf right now are the mismatched set of commentaries, my Grandma gave me when she could no longer read herself. I had no idea the treasure trove of lessons from my Grandma I was receiving alongside them. They just sat on my bookshelf for a while. Until the day I decided to pick one of them up. When I opened it, I discovered it was full of my Grandma's underlines of things that spoke to her and pieces of paper with her responses to what she read there.

One of the things I noticed over and over in what I read both in the commentary and in her notes, was her realization and desire not to live stuck in the past. To her it was very clear in Scripture that Jesus had come and died on a cross and rose again to free us from our past, so we can begin to live the lives God intends for us. 

She would regularly remind me of this in our conversations on the golf course. Every time I would start talking about something in the past, she would ask me the same things:

Are there people in this situation you need to make things right with? Don't wait to do that.

Are there things you need to confess and repent of? Don't wait to do that.

Are there lessons you can learn from this? What are they?

Once you've done these things, does it do you any good to keep living in regret or anger over what has happened? 

Then she would remind me that it was time let it go. That it was time to leave it with God and walk forward into what was coming next.

She would share about how she didn't always do this well. She wasn't telling me to do this because she thought it was easy. She knew it was challenging, but she also knew it was worth it.

I've been thinking a lot about this lesson since I shared the words I did on Facebook last week. In my case, this is something where I could look back and live in regret or anger, but it really does no good at this point. That just keeps me stuck in the past and not getting on with living the life God has for me now.

I think is something that applies to so much of our lives. And I'm grateful for the regular reminders from my Grandma while I was growing up.