Hope Springs part 1
I've long said that if hope didn't spring eternal, it wouldn't be hope. Because sometimes hope is all we have left, when it seems like everything else crumbles. Hope for a better day tomorrow. Hope that instead of things getting worse and worse, they can actually get better and better. And that's the cool thing about hope--it flies in the face of the "facts of the matter." And to quote the quote that I always quote off of, "Hope springs eternal (in the human breast)." That's from dictionary.com and the defintion is: "Proverb. It is human nature to always find fresh cause for optimism." Now I want to say that it is also human nature to settle. We do it all the time. It amazes me how we can get comfortable (or perhaps comfortably numb) in just about any situation. And that sometimes we literally have to hit rock bottom before we're forced to start climbing back up. But sometimes that's what it takes. Like a momma bird who makes her nest uncomfortable so her babies will spread their wings and fly. Like God, and Jonah, and the fish. My pastor says, "Some are called and some are cornered." We WILL settle, but there IS a limit. And when we hit that limit, the hope in our breasts takes hold and we stop settling. When you hit rock bottom there's only one place to go: Upward and Godward. Let me quote a memory verse so we can kind of get to the bottom (pun intended) of what we're talking about. 1 Corinthians 13:13, "And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity." That word "abideth" is powerful. It is number 3306 in Strong's Greek Concordance and it means, "to stay: - abide, continue, dwell, endure, be present, remain, stand, tarry." Hope abides. Hope endures. Hope remains. It stands strong. But what is it, exactly? Well, it is number 1680 in Strong's Greek Concordance and it means, "to anticipate, usually with pleasure; expectation or confidence." Which is interesting to me. Because usually we use it a little more loosely than that. "I hope someday I'll win the lottery and be a millionaire." Well, do you play the lottery? No? Probably not going to win it then. (And, realistically, probably wouldn't win it if you did play it. I'm not advocating buying lottery tickets.) So that's not really a hope as much as it is a pipe dream. Hope is expectation. And it goes hand in hand with faith. Because faith is the substance of things hoped for, right? Hope is anticipating what will happen and then faith is believing it when we see it. And they both snuggle up with love. Because what else do we really hope for? What else could we possibly put our faith in? Jesus said, "...Have faith in God" (Mark 11:22). Which means, "Have faith in love." Faith, hope, and love are the three great things. But the greatest of them is love. Listen. If hope springs eternal in the human breast (heart), what else could it be about? What else comes from the heart but love? And I'm not necessarily talking about romantic love (although that is part of it and can be included in it). I'm talking about the basic concept of our heart's desire. Being loved. Being accepted. That's what everybody hopes for. That what everybody wants. What everybody needs. And I'm here to tell you... never settle for a life without it. Never lose hope. Because you ARE loved, right this second, even if it doesn't feel like it. Even if you don't know it. God is love, and He loves you. That's the ultimate truth of the universe. That's what we can put our faith in. That's what we hope for--anticipate with pleasure--and that's what we have!