New Year’s Day is a great time for resolutions and looking forward. I love to set goals that I seem to not keep throughout the year. But every year I set new ones. Other than my need for discipline, I realize that there is good in always looking forward and wanting to better myself. It brings hope.
Each of us has a yearning to better ourselves and our situation. God has placed a longing in our souls for greater security, belonging and significance. And this side of heaven these priorities will never be completely fulfilled. That is why hope is so necessary. It keeps us focused on what can be, rather than what is. An orphaned child longs for a mom. A prodigal’s father longs for his child. Without hope our lives are thrust into despair.
Hope will remain. It is eternal. It is waiting for the unseen, the unsaid, to come into being. It is a part of the grand narrative written into every story. Cinderella waits for her prince. Gandalf trusts in a Hobbit. Pinochle dreams of one day being a real boy.
Hope is the prequel to transformation. In order to become something new, we must desire and trust that it will come into being. That is why faith is intertwined with hope. Hope put into action is faith. When Jesus performed miracles He called people to do more than just hope. He called them to believe. And that is faith. Jesus praised a Roman Centurion who had great faith in Him. And he healed the soldier’s servant because of that faith. But without hope in Jesus nothing would have happened.
For what do yo hope? What do you desire to see changed? Write it down. Ponder it. And dare to hope! Then place your desire into the hands of God and see what happens. This is not a formula for instant success. It is the method to deepen your relationship with the one who loves you most. That is the reason for new hope.
Lead WILD 