Hope can be defined as, “a feeling of expectation and desire for a particular thing to happen” and/or “a feeling of trust”. Now if you are reading this and you are human, I’m sure you agree that the definition doesn’t even begin to unpack this fascinating phenomenon.
Have you ever stopped and thought long and hard about your friends and family and the endless possibilists about where they are and what they are doing? Not to panic you but despite how close to the truth your prediction may be, there’s a possibility that it’s not correct. The only thing that keeps us sane and ticking along whenever we bypass that thought process, is hope. You hope that they are doing well in their journey and on their task of the day. You hope they are fed and watered and in the best condition they can be. You hope they are succeeding in whatever venture that keeps them away from you. You, Hope.
You see, the word hope is all too often thrown around much like “love” and the essence of the word becomes numb to those that are out of touch with its purest form. A bit like an old favourite song – once upon a time you loved it enough to play it WAY too much. Some of us had it on replay when tiding our room or on our journey to school, or to work, or when exercising, or when studying. (Indirect question concluding my point about hope coming up) When did that song stop being your favourite? When did you stop playing it every day like you used to? The truth is, it was overplayed. Yet when you wait sometime, long enough that you almost forgot how much you loved it and then you play it again, or someone plays it around you, boom. “what a tune!” (or words to that effect), an exuberating burst of feeling and remembrance leaps out. Much to your surprise you still remember every word and every note that is played. In correlation, over playing meaningful words will nullify its meaning. How many times have you used the word hope without realising? Ask yourself, do you opften say phrases such as; hopefully…., I hope…, its hopeless…..
Do you ever notice how the use of meaning in the word hope changes depending on how big the situation is? For example; “hopefully it doesn’t rain today” compared to “I hope we do win, then we’ll be in the finals with a chance of beating the champions”. One thing I notice about it (the more I dive into its meaning and use) is that it is only ever said in times that are uncontrollable. There is usually not much you can do to change the situation and that’s where hope comes in.
The problem with such a powerful force is that if used incorrectly it can have some damaging side effects. In Proverbs 13:12 Solomon writes “Hope deferred makes the heart sick but longing fulfilled is a tree of life”. This gives a lot to think about. How many times have you heard someone start a sentence with “I hope” and end it with something horrible? You see even if the sentence was never said, if the brain is thinking it, then this proverb is a warning. But even on a less drastic measurement losing hope is a lot easier to do as hope requires patience. Sometimes we hope upon things that are going to take some time to get better. Sometimes we even hope against odds. When we wait a long time, it’s easy to give up hoping, but we mustn’t. We must press on hoping for the best of the situation. If we give up, this proverb is also a warning. Deferring hope is no good for the heart. Accepting defeat, what good will it do? Sometimes, hope is the only thing we have, so don’t let it go.
Ultimately hope is that positivity. That crazy positivity that keeps us going. For all big and small things, we hope that all will be well. And even when a bad day comes, even when a bad week, month or year has hit us, we can always hope for things to get better. As a Christian I can take hope one step further then its ordinary understanding. I can put my hope in God who can control the uncontrollable. God can change the odds in that situation that is against all odds. God can stop the rain from happening. I as his child, get to ask for these things trusting that He will do what is best for whatever situation I’m talking to Him about. If my day, week, month, year or life hasn’t been great. I have hope that even after that, I will be eternally with the one who is called Love. My God.
Luke Hines – KICK Mentor