Hope

Where did hope go?

Striving and pushing, fighting and struggling aren’t signs of hope.

Teachers hope for a good class of students. Students hope for a class with friends. Parents hope for their children’s future. Brides hope for the perfect dress. We hope for great jobs, perfect homes, happy lives and easy street. No traffic, lazy Sunday afternoons, good friends and plenty of food. Sunny days, restful sleep, cheap gas and low taxes are things on the list of what people might hope for.

But what happens when the class is unruly, friends move, the dress doesn’t fit, the baby has struggles and the job gets terminated?

Right now, I hear complaining about gas prices and I remember having to wait in line on odd numbered days to get gas at all. I have questions about my income tax and a list of prayer requests for people who are battling unimaginable things…is there hope?

YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT!

The above list of “hope” people ask for could have continued for pages and wouldn’t make a dent in the ways we try to find hope in this world. But this world should not be considered a place of hope.

On the praise side of my prayer list there are praises for those who do not find their hope in worldly things. That list includes gratitude for a family who loves the blessing of their baby and trusts the Lord to help with his differences. Hallelujahs for families who celebrate the life of a loved one gone from this world because they know without a doubt where their faith and HOPE were. Joy for the love that surpasses understanding, continued provision, ability, forgiveness, contentment and too many blessings to count.

The prayer side of my list is full of hope. Hope that will never die. Will never leave and will continue because I know where hope comes from. I am eternally grateful for the One who gives that hope, those who model it and live it out day by day.

There is always hope available, because it has less to do with today than about tomorrow.

I know who holds the future, I know who holds my hand. This world is not my home; I’m just passing through. But I have a lot of work to do…

Isaiah 40:26-31