The Reality of Hope

When people think of hope, they may come up with different ideas on what hope is. Some may say hope is wishful thinking, while others may say it is some kind of optimism. Both definitions seem to make sense of the meaning of hope, yet not fully grasp it at the same time. It is as though hope is something beyond those two definitions.

Hope is not when you wear rose-tinted sunglasses. Hope does not simply have you with a positive outlook in order to get through the day, or life for that matter. It is also not a frivolous expectation, liking hoping the line at Starbucks is short or you’ll be able to sit somewhere while taking the train home. Hope is something more. It is something more higher and inspiring then just simple optimism.

While optimism is about seeing the sunlight and little else, hope sees all. It sees the trash, the pain and the bleakness. It sees the despair and anger, the hurt and fear. It sees no light anywhere at all.

What hope does next is what defines it. Hope rolls up it sleeves and starts digging. It forges ahead, and digs long and hard no matter how tough the digging gets. It does all this because it just knows that somewhere there is light. Somewhere that light is something worth fighting for and worth living for. It doesn’t know when or how it will find that worth, but hope knows so strongly that it is there. It has seen all the angles and the possibilities, yet knows beauty and light is out there.

That is why hope is inspiring. It gives us that will and drive to journey on, and even live. But yet, it is also daunting. Sometimes despair makes more sense. Sometimes negativity sounds so much more logical. There can be just so much pain and fear that one person can take that the idea of hope seems laughable. It becomes a fantasy, and when one person is so beaten down, it makes the idea of being hopeful sound so hopeless. Also, how can anyone be hopeful about everyone and everything? There’s too many lousy people and things to even consider being optimistic about! Might as well get real! 

Besides, living in despair seems so much easier. In fact, it is much easier. No need to roll your sleeves to begin digging. No need to take responsibility for your actions. No need to deal with the cards you are dealt with. Just pout and don’t bother to look for the light in the darkness. People can be terrible, and some situations aren’t worth fighting for. 

Well, as Christ followers, we’d have to see everything from Jesus’ point of view. And if He is the Son of God, then He is the prime example on how God wants us to be. So if we are serious about having not just God, but Jesus in our lives, then we must reconsider our position on hope.  

To put it simply, God should be the one in deep despair rather than us. The human race has given Him enough heartache and headaches for millennia that you’d think He’d throw His hands up, enforce Armageddon and be done with us for good.  But He keeps on going, and keeps forging ahead. Amazing and fascinating that He does. Maybe because He knows we are worth it. He knows there is light in us somewhere beneath our darkness. He sees our strongest possibilities to be His children. That explains why He sent Jesus. The odds that Jesus will save the world and everyone in it were, and have been, very high, but God forged ahead anyway. He stills forges ahead. He has hope. It’s His nature.

The late Methodist minister, Charles L. Allen once said, “When you say that a situation or person is hopeless, you are slamming the door in the face of God”. 

Well, then. If God is Hope and so did Jesus, than so should we. If being a Christ follower means believing in His hope, you might as well go along with it. And if God puts up with our faults every day, then shouldn’t we do the same for others? It’s far from easy, of course. We can always pray for God to strengthen us, and He will hear us! If God sees hope everywhere and in everyone, then shouldn’t we? We really can’t be Christians and be hopeless like that, just like we can’t be Christians and not be loving toward our neighbor. Come to think of it, having hope for our neighbor is being loving toward our neighbor. We wouldn’t want to hold someone with disdain, no matter how horrible they are, or declare a situation hopeless, thus ruining the morale of others around us. 

So, hope is the way to go, it seems. God does it every day. Jesus did it. Sometimes we need God to infuse us with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Then we cannot second guess that hope once we receive it, strange and unusual as it may feel. And, let’s face it: sometimes being hopeless gets too tiresome. 

It is said that hope is choice. At times, it is the only choice. 

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life ~ Proverbs 13.1

- Megan McGibney