Hope

Steven Curtis Chapman sang an incredible song called With Hope some years back, about grieving with hope when someone dies unexpectedly. It ends with these words:


We wait with hope
And we ache with hope
We hold on with hope
We let go with hope


Then, his precious daughter, Maria, died in a tragic accident, and those words became reality. He had to decide to sing them, or not. He had to decide if he could live a previously held belief, or if he could not.


What happens when your beliefs collide with your reality? 


From emails and other communications I have gotten the impression that many people think we are not okay in some way. I apologize if I gave that impression. In truth, we are just fine.


We can be frustrated, bummed, annoyed, and sad, and still be just fine.


Because you see, God is the same today as He was before we had hope for Chico, and the same as He was back when Dan had a job and we had a home. 


Therefore, we are fine.


When beliefs collide with reality, you find out how deeply you really believe.


Either God is true in the dark days and the bright days, or He is not true at all. 


Either you trust Him, or you do not.


Either He is in control or He is not.


I have seen too much evidence to pick the "not" option.


So, we praise Him, trust Him, cling tightly to the hope we have in Him, and we move forward.


Where "forward" is, I do not know. But that's okay.


C. S. Lewis said: Hope what you please; but remember, that hope without truth at the bottom of it, is an anchor without a holdfast. A groundless hope is a mere delusion.   


My hope is anchored in Truth. I don't hope for a certain outcome, nor an easy life, only for the promises of God, which are certain to come true, and for a meaningful life which is centered on following Christ. 


We are by no means the only ones who find ourselves out of work in this economy. Tonight I think of all those who have lost their jobs, and pray that they are not robbed of their hope.