It even seems that the concept of hope had the audacity to help elect a president of the United States in the last election.

I have never seen so many people come forth with advice or explanations on hope. All of this causes me to scratch my head and think about what you and I are really hearing as we are being bombarded by the media daily with talk of hope.

Well, as I start to work through all the different permutations about hope I hear, it causes me to fall back to what my momma used to say, when she would respond to some of my explanations and rationalizations by the phrase, “Talk is cheap.”

Ok, momma, I will look at the issues of hope I am hearing about to see if there is really any substance to all the “hub bub” going around. To do that, I believe you need to look at two important questions for analysis. First, what is the need for hope? Second, what is the object of the hope looked for?

Is the need for hope in our society today found in the economic crisis? Yes, I know that Caterpillar has its first real loss of profits in 17 years, and that is not a good sign. I know that every time the treasury secretary talks to the media, you can watch the stock ticker in the corner of the screen start going south. And, I know some of you have not opened your last retirement account financial statement because you are afraid that your 401k has gone from a 201k to a 101k.

It is tough economically right now, not just here in America, but all around the globe in the reality of our global economy. Yet, I have to wonder if our need for hope comes from a deeper place than things in the world around us. Could it be that the need for hope is a part of the permanent human condition of humans apart from God, and only a restored relationship with the God of the Bible can restore hope?

What about the various objects of hope we see people in our society turning to? Can we really find hope turning to a politician, either on the right or the left of the political spectrum? Don’t they have the same base human condition we have? Don’t they need to turn to the same God of the Bible that we need? These are interesting political philosophy points to ponder, so ponder away.

Can we really find hope turning to a financial guru or stockbroker? Do they have the capacity to foretell the future and give you guaranteed to succeed advice? You’ve got to be kidding. That’s why we have to sign forms when we invest acknowledging we understand the risk involved in following our financial advisor’s advice, or when we go contrary to it.

Let me be bold enough to suggest that the only place you and I can turn to have a hope that transcends our circumstances of life is to the God of the Bible. An example of this would be the Old Testament hero that even the New Testament writers build their thinking on, Abraham. Paul shows him to be the example of hope, like I am suggesting, in Romans 4:18-25. Here he says, “Against all Hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations … Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead – since he was about a hundred years old – and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God … begin fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.” (NIV)

In the early years of his life, God had promised He would make Abram the father of a nation of descendents that would follow God as Abram was doing. Yet, it never happened until he was about 100 years old. Throughout the years of his life, he kept himself focused on the hope that God would do what he said. If God had not been the object of his hope, he could not have had hope.

I submit to you that the same is true for us. Only making God and the truth He reveals in the Bible can give us a hope that transcends all the circumstances of life we will face.

If you would like to pursue this theme of hope in the God of the bible, I encourage you to join me some time at Calvary as we study about the hope that the God of the bible reveals about himself and ourselves in His Word, the Bible.

With pen in hand,
Dr. Chuck
www.CalvaryAnna.com

With Pen in Hand,
Dr. Chuck
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it