Our dog Abby LOVES to play. When I get home from work, I go out back and throw her ball. So, from the moment she hears the garage door goes up, she absolutely flips out. She runs in circles all over the house, back and forth from me to the back door.
She's inconsolable. Hope oozes from her every fiber, expectant that I will play with her. It's contagious and it draws me outside.
Hope is an interesting word. In English, when we use hope, there is a level of uncertainty. We don't know if what we hope for is ever going to be achieved. But I learned recently, the word Paul uses in the New Testament is different.
The hope Paul talks about is something we have yet to attain, but there is a certainty we will attain it.
I heard an interview with a former Vietnam POW. When asked how he survived such horrible conditions, when others didn't, he said, "I always knew we would get out of there." When asked about the guys who didn't survive he replied, "Oh, they were the optimists."
Understanding the interviewer's confusion he smiled and continued. "The ones who died were the ones who would say, 'we'll be out by Christmas' then 'we'll be out by Easter.' When it didn't happen, they gave up.
"We had the realistic attitude that we didn't know when we would be freed, but we would be freed."
That is the hope of the Gospel.
Our lives can be overwhelmed with uncertainty, heartbreak and pain. And we have a hope. It's not a "Pollyanna hope" that ignores the realities of our circumstances. It is a hope that acknowledges the struggle but that we do not struggle alone. One day, the one who loves us will come and our hope will be reality.
She's inconsolable. Hope oozes from her every fiber, expectant that I will play with her. It's contagious and it draws me outside.
Hope is an interesting word. In English, when we use hope, there is a level of uncertainty. We don't know if what we hope for is ever going to be achieved. But I learned recently, the word Paul uses in the New Testament is different.
The hope Paul talks about is something we have yet to attain, but there is a certainty we will attain it.
I heard an interview with a former Vietnam POW. When asked how he survived such horrible conditions, when others didn't, he said, "I always knew we would get out of there." When asked about the guys who didn't survive he replied, "Oh, they were the optimists."
Understanding the interviewer's confusion he smiled and continued. "The ones who died were the ones who would say, 'we'll be out by Christmas' then 'we'll be out by Easter.' When it didn't happen, they gave up.
"We had the realistic attitude that we didn't know when we would be freed, but we would be freed."
That is the hope of the Gospel.
Our lives can be overwhelmed with uncertainty, heartbreak and pain. And we have a hope. It's not a "Pollyanna hope" that ignores the realities of our circumstances. It is a hope that acknowledges the struggle but that we do not struggle alone. One day, the one who loves us will come and our hope will be reality.
Amen.
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