There has been a lot of talk in political circles lately about hope and change. Personally, I hope we get some change, but, my hope is not in the politicians. I’m not convinced that any of them actually have the best interests of the country in mind, but I believe that God does. I also believe that God can influence our next president to do things that are good for the country, even though politicians frequently resist the leading of God. My trust is in God, not in politicians.
I have been criticized in the past for having hope. Some people are so cynical that they believe that any person of any real intelligence should ‘know better’ than to have hope. Some people of faith seem to think that hope runs counter to faith. I hope to demonstrate that both of those positions are erroneous.
The word hope appears in over a hundred verses of the Bible. A lot of those times, it is describing false hope, but, in many cases it is talking about actual hope. Psalms 31:24 talks about hope in God, as do Psalms 33:18-22, 38:15, 39:7, 42:5, Proverbs 10:28, 14:32, Ecclesiastes 9:4, Isaiah 38:18, Jeremiah 14:8, 17:7, Joel 3:16, Acts 2:26. Apostle Paul talks about the hope of the resurrection in Acts 23:6 and 24:15, the hope of the promise in Acts 26:6-7, the hope that Abraham had in Romans 4:18, the hope of the glory of God in Romans 5:2, how to build hope in Romans 5:4, being saved by hope in Romans 8:24-25, and rejoicing in hope in Romans 12:12. He calls God the God of hope in Romans 15:13, and he says in 1 Corinthians 15:19 that if in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. Think about that for a minute: he is talking about having a hope in the life to come. He is also talking about that our reward isn’t in this life. Sometimes one little thing goes wrong, and we get all upset. “I thought God was supposed to take care of us!” He does. But, that doesn’t mean that we are always going to live on easy street. Sometimes God puts us through things just so that other people can see how Christians react. He talks about the hope of salvation in 1 Thessalonians 5:8.
I think that it’s pretty safe to say that hope is a very real part of Christianity. It is not something to replace faith, but to supplement it. Any of the believers that object to the use of the word are just being overly word conscious.
I, personally, have a bad habit of referring to luck. I have been trying to avoid saying it lately, because some people object to it, and I understand that. To me, “Good luck” is just an expression. I don’t really believe in luck, although the Bible does say that time and chance happens to all men. Sometimes things just happen by chance. I don’t think luck has anything to do with it, but at the same time, I don’t really object to using the phrase, “Good luck,” as a way of saying that I hope nothing bad happens to you. I suppose that there is a better way of saying that, but a lot of people just kind of turn off when you say something that sounds really religious, like, “May God’s blessings be upon you.” There are some people that I would be willing to say that to, but not all that many.
I’m sure that there are some that will say, “Oh, but when you use a phrase like that, you are letting them know immediately that you are a Christian. It could open up a door to share your faith with them.” Yeah, good luck with that.
I have been criticized in the past for having hope. Some people are so cynical that they believe that any person of any real intelligence should ‘know better’ than to have hope. Some people of faith seem to think that hope runs counter to faith. I hope to demonstrate that both of those positions are erroneous.
The word hope appears in over a hundred verses of the Bible. A lot of those times, it is describing false hope, but, in many cases it is talking about actual hope. Psalms 31:24 talks about hope in God, as do Psalms 33:18-22, 38:15, 39:7, 42:5, Proverbs 10:28, 14:32, Ecclesiastes 9:4, Isaiah 38:18, Jeremiah 14:8, 17:7, Joel 3:16, Acts 2:26. Apostle Paul talks about the hope of the resurrection in Acts 23:6 and 24:15, the hope of the promise in Acts 26:6-7, the hope that Abraham had in Romans 4:18, the hope of the glory of God in Romans 5:2, how to build hope in Romans 5:4, being saved by hope in Romans 8:24-25, and rejoicing in hope in Romans 12:12. He calls God the God of hope in Romans 15:13, and he says in 1 Corinthians 15:19 that if in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. Think about that for a minute: he is talking about having a hope in the life to come. He is also talking about that our reward isn’t in this life. Sometimes one little thing goes wrong, and we get all upset. “I thought God was supposed to take care of us!” He does. But, that doesn’t mean that we are always going to live on easy street. Sometimes God puts us through things just so that other people can see how Christians react. He talks about the hope of salvation in 1 Thessalonians 5:8.
I think that it’s pretty safe to say that hope is a very real part of Christianity. It is not something to replace faith, but to supplement it. Any of the believers that object to the use of the word are just being overly word conscious.
I, personally, have a bad habit of referring to luck. I have been trying to avoid saying it lately, because some people object to it, and I understand that. To me, “Good luck” is just an expression. I don’t really believe in luck, although the Bible does say that time and chance happens to all men. Sometimes things just happen by chance. I don’t think luck has anything to do with it, but at the same time, I don’t really object to using the phrase, “Good luck,” as a way of saying that I hope nothing bad happens to you. I suppose that there is a better way of saying that, but a lot of people just kind of turn off when you say something that sounds really religious, like, “May God’s blessings be upon you.” There are some people that I would be willing to say that to, but not all that many.
I’m sure that there are some that will say, “Oh, but when you use a phrase like that, you are letting them know immediately that you are a Christian. It could open up a door to share your faith with them.” Yeah, good luck with that.
Update: I corrected a typo above. I meant to say 'supplement' (meaning something added to complete a thing), but accidentally typed 'supplant' (meaning to usurp the place of). Talk about one mistake undermining the entire intent of the post! Sorry about that.
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1 comment:
Haha, yeah right... good luck with that! :) Nice entry!
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