"The meaning of hope is a confident expectation"
-Said by one of the youth pastors at Bryan Morales' service this morning
One of the reasons this stuck out to me today, was because just the other day I was having a serious conversation with a friend. During the conversation he had said, "let's just hope for the best." And I don't remember my response verbatim, but it was something along the lines of, "Here I am, taking control of different situations in my life and doing something about them and making changes... and not relying on hope. I can't rely on hope anymore. I don't have control when it comes to hope." At the time I said this, or even now... I've felt that I've relied on hope and have hoped for so long for many things, that when it comes down to it... I feel that I can't rely on hope for something to happen, or hope that something goes well. My thoughts were, make it happen. Take control, and make it happen. Though there are those things that we cannot control, for example - health, other people's actions, mother nature, etc. I had/have a hard time relying on hope - it may be the uncertainty that scares me, or not having control of the situation. So when I heard this quote at church this morning... Something inside me had me repeating this quote over and over and over... A sign maybe? Or maybe God was speaking to me.. telling me I need to stop worrying about being in control and rely on Him... and HOPE. Sitting in church, hearing the pastor talk about hope I began to feel guilty... realizing that not relying on hope, meant not relying on Him. When it comes down to the wire, my close friends wouldn't really call me a religious person. Yes, I've grown up and have gone to church with friends, and here and there had gone to retreats and different events; and have showed up for a service from time to time. I've always believed in Him, but... I can say have never felt like I've had a relationship with Him. But after today, feeling guilty that I basically said I'd given up God..when yesterday I had said - I've given up hope... I felt that I was wrong, and something needed to change.
Read on Bible.org :
Hope may refer to the activity of hoping, or to the object hoped for—the content of one’s hope. By its very nature, hope stresses two things: (a) futurity, and (b) invisibility. It deals with things we can’t see or haven’t received or both.
A biblical hope is not an escape from reality or from problems. It doesn’t leave us idle, drifting or just rocking on the front porch. If our hope is biblical and based on God's promises, it will put us in gear.
It has results: It changes how we see ourselves, it affects what we do with our lives - our talents, time, and treasures. It has rewards: It gives us joy and peace; it gives us protection; it gives us strength, courage and boldness; it gives us endurance, comfort, confidence in the face of death.
Positive - the means and basis of the only true hope.
There are a number of warnings in Scripture against putting our hope in anything other than the Lord because these things will leave us ashamed, frustrated, disappointed, and in ruin. God is called “the God of Hope.” This means He is the source of all real hope. If we are going to have hope (confident expectation), it must come from Him for He alone has the power to give it.
So... the outcome? I know I can't control every situation, and instead of thinking I'm relying on some kind of hope that whatever happens - happens, and that's the end of it... I've started to reassure myself that I need to rely on hope from God, and I need to remember that he has a plan - and whatever may happen, whatever may be the outcome... He has drawn out my future, my path... I can only rely Him.
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