Hope
I do not know about you but I am pretty good at imagining the most elaborate worst case scenarios. For some reason it is just so easy to believe the negative narrative. It is as if the worst ideas feel the most plausible and the hopeful ones are just wishful thinking.
Imagination is a powerful thing.
When I read the headlines of 2020 and I look towards the future, I can imagine all sorts of terrible scenarios. And, when I look to my own resources or humanity to find my hope, it all seems rather hopeless.
At the beginning of the pandemic, I listened to a sermon a friend of mine preached and I heard something that I had never considered - “Our is hope not found in our circumstances. Our hope is found IN the person of Jesus.”
It seems like a simple change but also one that is profound and life changing.
I have always tried to be more hopeful and attempted to drum it up inside of me. And then, I would inevitably fall short and feel like a failure. A vicious cycle.
But it turns out that looking for hope inside me was not what I needed to be doing. I needed to look to God.
As God has been reminding me to find my hope IN Him, instead of my circumstances, I have found that I get glimpses of a different future.
Instead of the worst scenarios ahead I am beginning to be able to imagine a future where God is with me, able to sustain me, and take care of me.
In the end, God is the only sure thing in our future.
Our hope is both found IN God and is a gift FROM God. It is not something we will find inside ourselves but something we receive from God. When we ask for hope, God will begin His mysterious and wonderful work in our lives.
God’s hope begins to draw Jesus back to being the central figure in both our imagined future and our current reality.
This has made significant changes for me, as I face an uncertain future.
God is offering you the gift of hope so that you can learn to imagine a different future, His future.
He is inviting you to allow Him to baptize your imagination and bring His resurrected life into areas of your mind that are dead in despair. He is offering you the gift of hope so you can imagine something new.
In those areas of your life that seem insurmountable, areas of your world where your imagination sees only difficulty - God wants to penetrate them with His hope because He “is able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.” (Ephesians 3:20)
Making space for God’s hope in our lives means that you and I will need“to be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (Romans 12:2). The world and our culture wants to tell us a certain narrative, a story about how things work, and it will not let you go easily.
You and I must fight for hope with the strength God will give us, when we ask
I cannot begin to describe the difficulty I have had writing this blog about hope. There were inner voices popping up everywhere claiming that all this “hope talk” is just wishful thinking and too outlandish. I have had doubts about whether or not God could possibly heal both the physical and emotional ailments in our world or our lives. I have also felt a real insecurity, almost paralyzed, by not knowing if this was even the right thing to be writing at this time.
Not to mention that my computer crashed at least 3 times and I had to start again from scratch.
And, while trying to write this, I have had to cling to the words of God. Verses I have sought out and memorized to speak out against the despair and the doubts.
This is one of the ways we can fight for hope.
The last thing the darkness wants is for Christians to live more fully in God’s story with baptized imaginations. Imaginations are powerful things, not only in our lives but also in the lives of others. Imaginative lives can spread hope to their community.
The reshaping of your mind will not be instantaneous but I am confident that “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Phillipians 1:6)
Will you ask and allow God to baptize your imagination with a new vision of the future?
May the Father, by the Son, through the Holy Spirit baptize your imagination and give you vision to see a different future, one where He is present and able to sustain you through whatever might come. When the world encourages you to seek elsewhere, may you be able to respond with a hope that points the way forward.
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13)
Amen.