What is Hope?

I was watching one of the news channels the other night laying in bed and a story pertaining to the Utah mine collapse aired. In it, one of the owners of the mine Bob Murray was peppered with questions at a press conference announcing that due to unsafe conditions after the second collapse killed 3 rescue workers, he was suspending human rescue efforts and would continue boring holes to search for any of the survivors. One specific question has stuck with me the last couple of days. A reporter asked Murray,"So, are you admitting that you are taking away all hope from the families of the missing miners?" The owner nearly buckled at the podium at hearing the question but responded that he was not going to risk further life when no signs of human activity have been recorded in any of the bored holes thus far. The company would continue the boring rescue effort.

Hope. What is hope? Can it be fleeting? In what is hope rooted? Are hope and faith intertwined? Is there room for hope in faith? Is hope the antithesis of faith? As Christians, what can we hope for? Can we hope?

I have generally felt that hoping for something derives it roots in selfish desires, i.e. I hope my wife has a healthy delivery, I hope my grandmother recovers from cancer, I hope my house sells. To that extent, doesn't that hope supercede my desire for God's will? If I am praying daily for God's will to be shown to me and affective in my life, then I shouldn't hope for those things. Right? "Thine will be done."

If that is true, then hope would be fleeting, because our desires and dreams change often. Hope can be taken away. So then is the difference between hope and faith that faith should be constant while hopes are not?

I have struggled with this for a couple of days, wrestling in my head over and over for hours in my car. Why? My heart wants my faith to be true and pure, without question, focused on God's holy and divine will. We've been reading about prayer the last couple of weeks and God got plenty from me since Monday!

This evening after soccer practices, I realized that I needed another resource God has left us. I hit the scriptures. Here is what I found:


Hebrews 6:16-20

16 Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. 17 Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. 18 God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. 19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf.

God offers us hope through His promises. Further, Paul characterizes hope this hope as an anchor. That's not a bad thing. And this hope/anchor "enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain..." Behind the curtain. That's huge! Few ever even saw the curtain in the temples. The writers took care to pen that when Jesus died on the cross, the curtain was ripped in two signaling that we now had access to God in a new way. So, if hope gets us behind that symbolic curtain, then it must be from above.

Look at Galatians 5:5

5 But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope.

Faith and hope in the same passage. Now we're getting answers.

We can hope through faith. Therefore, since our faith is rooted in God's will, then our hopes should be planted there as well. I'm getting this now. But, if that is the case, then how can others take away our hope?

I can surmise only one explanation. Those hopes don't come from or through God. We can harbor hopes of the flesh and hopes of faith. (Trust me, I never once read that or heard that in a sermon!!!!) I guess that human desires fall under hopes of the flesh. Those can fade away or blow in the wind. You've heard that you can take away my happiness, but not my joy? Much the same here. What goes on around me may affect my hopes of the flesh, however, my hopes of faith can't be taken away by you. My soul hopes for wisdom, peace, companionship with God, understanding of His love and grace. Only I can dim that hope within my soul because we know God only wants to fan that flame.

I "hope" that this makes sense. I'm sure most of you don't let your minds go crazy I do. Isn't God amazing? We have questions and through prayer and His word, I can now go on to ponder other things.

I welcome any and ALL comments.