Seasons

Hope

"Hope fills the afflicted soul with such inward joy and consolation, that it can laugh while tears are in the eye, sigh and sing all in one breath..." -William Gurnall

In recent months, I have found that hope has become one of my favorite virtues to aspire toward, largely because of a season of hope which I was led into. Hope is one of those things which everyone kind of knows is important, yet often neglects in favour of its counterparts Faith and Love. But this doesn't make it worth any less. If Faith were to be the vehicle and Love the destination, then Hope must be the engine. Without Hope, you probably could reach the destination of Love, but the vehicle of Faith becomes dull and heavy, and might as well be abandoned.

What exactly is Hope?

"Deliver us from every evil, and grant us peace in our day. In your mercy keep us free from sin, and protect us from all anxiety, as we wait in joyful hope, for the coming of our savior Jesus Christ." -Prayer for deliverance

Hope in essence, can be summarized in the words of the prophet Jeremiah: "'For I know the plans I have for you', declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you...'" It is a grounding of oneself in the fact that God would never desert you nor place you in a situation that would bring you harm. It is knowing that whatever the situation we are in, God is working powerfully in manners tangible and intangible for our good. When we as Christians profess that we wait in joyful hope for Christ's coming, we do so in full knowledge that He WILL come. We just do not know when.

Throughout the last year, life kept hurling a bunch of curveballs and screwballs at me. Church commitments, physical exhaustion, spiritual dryness, relationship issues, school, exams... And yet somehow, Hope kept me sane. And things did eventually work out and by God's grace I managed to juggle the (previously thought as) impossible. 

Hope keeps our Faith going when all seems lost. Hope reminds us that for all the struggles, pain and disappointments, life actually is worth living. Hope gives us joy, and it brings us right to the heart of God.

"A Christianity without joy is practical atheism."