Hope That Lasts

Last month I shared parts of my faith journey with you and because this blog is subtitled Faith, Hope, and Love it seemed fitting to think about hope this month. I ended last time with the thought that the quest for God and Truth and the need to grow in faith would be essential in the days ahead, days which will be filled with challenges of all types. This week has been a strong reminder of that need.

As the seventeenth anniversary of 9/11 approached and the chilling videos were played and replayed on television, I was reminded how fragile this physical life is and how the power of evil can cause fellow humans to do unspeakable acts, changing the lives of many people in an instant. Then the media turned the focus of the country to the pending natural disaster coming upon the Carolinas through Hurricane Florence, yet another example of how quickly and dramatically life as we know it can be transformed. Where does hope come from when anticipating or experiencing such circumstances? Does hope matter? What is life like without something solid to build hope upon? Are these questions worth the time to ponder? Or is it better, easier, simpler to just keep on keeping on?

I confess that in my younger years the easier, simpler option was my choice. I was too busy with being busy to contemplate to any depth such important topics as faith, hope, love, life, afterlife, redemption, salvation. I understand my grandparents and parents so much more completely as I get older. I am becoming them! In spite of what the numerous cultural influencers would have me focus on, my mind, heart, and soul now find these topics of utmost significance. I remember the worn bibles and the many prayers of my grandparents and parents. I find my bible getting more of a workout than in the past and more of my time spent in prayer – praying but also learning to listen more than I speak in prayer.

I share these thoughts not to boast in any way. The more I seek and explore, the more I realize how little I know. I don’t have many, if any, motivating life lessons or amazing insights to share. I only have a rudimentary understanding of the power of hope when it is founded in the Truth. What is your hope built on? Finances? A job – or a pension? Your social standing? Another human being – a spouse, a child, a parent? Do you have hope because your life has been predictable and you believe you’ll see “it” coming before it hits you? I think I have put a fair amount of hope in most of those things at one point or another but now I am on a quest for the more and the better, including where I place my hope. I pray that in this day of seismic world changes you also find yourself challenged by something in your spirit that says “There is more and there is better than this and I must find it.”

Psalm 62: 5-6
Yes, my soul, find rest in God;
    my hope comes from him.
Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
    he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.

Colossians 1:5
Your faith and love have arisen from the hope laid up for you in heaven, which you have heard about in the message of truth, the gospel

Beth’s song of the month: Mention of Your Name - Jenn and Brian Johnson