“Remember Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.” Andy Dufresne – The Shawshank Redemption
What is it about hope that springs eternal? You might even ask, what does that really mean? Dictionary.com says this:
People will keep on hoping, no matter what the odds. For example, I keep buying lottery tickets–hope springs eternal. This expression was coined by Alexander Pope (An Essay on Man, 1732) and quickly became proverbial.
That’s fair enough. We all want to have hope in something. I’ve never had hope in winning the lottery but many do. If I played the lottery I would never expect to hit it someday and then, bam, just like that I’m on easy street. However, many people think this way.
I try to be more concrete in my thinking but in order to be more “concrete” I need something stable. The lottery example is nothing more than a “wish” or a “pipe-dream”. Sure enough, it happens on occasion for people but the odds are better you’ll be eaten by a Great White Shark. Even if you don’t swim in the ocean.
Can papyrus grow where there is no marsh? Can reeds flourish where there is no water? While yet in flower and not cut down, they wither before any other plant. Such are the paths of all who forget God; the hope of the godless shall perish. Job 8:11-13
The Scripture paints a masterpiece word picture. It’s really easy to see what is being said here. Without God what hope do you have? It gives us a grim reminder that life is temporal, and destruction can come upon us like a flower being cut down or plants withering away.
Wow, that’s pretty depressing.
I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him. Isaiah 8:17
This turns a corner. We see a glimmer of hope, although at times the Lord may hide his face from us, if we are trusting in Him there is a great hope. Hope that is real, must depend on the object of our hope. Outside of the everlasting love of the Father, there is only false hope.
But that’s not so for us… if we are in Christ. That is our great hope. He died and rose again and sits at the right hand of the Father. Don’t allow your circumstances to dictate your true hope.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of JesusChrist from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 1 Peter 1:3-5
Did you catch that it’s a “living” hope? Why was Peter stressing this so much? Because his readers were experiencing great suffering through persecution. While there are times we suffer greatly through no fault of our own, extreme physical trials are faced or just the circumstances of life, we must remember we have a Savior that has not abandoned us. He is there to walk us through the worst of life.
May we cling to this hope. Because He who began a good work in us will see it to completion.
Kevin
Uncommon Faith 