Hope is a dangerous word, because it is often closely connected to expectation of hopes fulfilled.
Life isn’t always like that, though.
Last week as I was reading a blog post by Annie Downs at (in)courage, she started with this question,
“What if this year we just hoped like crazy?”
and I almost deleted it before reading further.
But my ‘gut response’ to want to delete it, not read further, was rather surprising to me. Why did I respond that way? So, I kept reading.
Annie’s post, called, The Year We Hoped, left me feeling as though she was reminding me of what I know in my head, but had forgotten in my heart …
” now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”
Hebrews 11:1
Faith and hope go together … there is no faith if we do not allow ourselves to hope.
Give a read to Annie’s post, and see if you can have a renewed understanding that “hope … never stops at all.”
“What if this year we just hoped like crazy?
The kind of hope that can feel scary and look embarrassing and may blow up in your face.
It seems that there are times we are taught that to be “mature” and “holy” means to be without hope, without risk.
Show that you are okay as you are and that you’ll just play the cards you’ve been dealt.
Don’t dream for things to come or you’ll look foolish when they don’t.
Be content.
But what happens when “content” and “hopeless” become synonymous?
I’ve felt that. Haven’t you? I’ve labeled resignation as contentment. I’ve put all those words in the same folder, thinking the longer hope goes unfulfilled, the more interchangeable those words become. It doesn’t matter what you are hoping for or waiting for – a spouse, a child, a job, a dream, a break, a nap – I bet you’ve wrestled with this. Like I have. For years.
Friends, those words? Content. Hopeless. They were never meant to be synonyms. No one asked you to be content by giving up your dreams. Being CONTENT with life doesn’t mean you CONSENT to quit dreaming.
. . . . .
In 2014, I’m choosing to be content and ridiculously hopeful.
We’re going to have to dance with both words and watch as they step on each other’s toes and turn the wrong way here or there. But I think we can do it- live with hope, live fully today, and feel satisfied.
Here’s what. Hope isn’t being sure you are going to get what you want. Hope isn’t this silly idea that if you can just find the bottle, the genie will give you whatever is on your wish list.
Hope is being sure that we serve a God who CAN. We serve a God who DOES. And we serve a God who KNOWS. And watching to see how He does it all.
I’m full of hope this year about what God can do, what He will do, and trusting that He knows what will be for my good and for His glory.
Sure, I’m a little scared, especially saying it in front of you. And I’m not certain I know what this is going to look like. But I’m willing to try.
To 2014. The year we hoped.
. . . . .
Join me? What are you hoping for this year? “
itsawonderfilledlife 