Grumbles and Hope, part II

After having read part I (see below) one might get the picture of Pollyanna happily skipping through life and oblivious to the crumbling society on either side of her hopskotched décored sidewalk. I recently was amused by the post I read on a forum where Pollyanna and hope were discussed. I admit that I am a hopeful person, but that doesn’t mean that I blindly move along, ignorant of the reality of the world. When one has hope, does it mean that you must keep your head in the sand, or hope for unrealistic things? Does God intend for us to be mindless robots who trudge along with painted on smiles and singing the party line in a joyless monotone?

The Living God that I know would be bored out of His perfect mind with robotical responses to all that He is doing. Yes, He wants us to act in faith and trust in the hope that He offers, but He gave us minds and talents. He gave us the ability to reason and create. He gives us the freedom to experience His love and trust His plan to care for us. Because I trust in His love for me and all creation, I have a constant hope that, however it happens, everything is gonna workout… somehow… don’t know how… but it will.

Does that mean that I think God will wave His magical wand and make all MY plans happen the way I want them too? Do I have hope that the evil forces of the world will suddenly wake up tomorrow and decide to do good and caring deeds? My realistic side says, “Of course not” but there is that part of me that has a continual hope that they will choose to do so. I have no real expectation that the drug dealer down the corner will have a sudden epiphany tomorrow, discover that Christ loves him/her, and become a generous and loving person. That is hard to imagine. But I do have hope that new life and joy is possible for that person, because I know Christ is ever present around that person, loving that person, and waiting for that person to recognize his/her need for a better way of life through Christ. I do know that we all have struggles, but Hope is that thing that helps me put one foot in front of another. In Romans, we read:

"By entering through faith into what God has always wanted to do for us—set us right with him, make us fit for him—we have it all together with God because of our Master Jesus. And that's not all: We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us. We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand—out in the wide open spaces of God's grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise.

"There's more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we're hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we're never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can't round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit!" (Romans 5:1-5, The Message)

The NIV puts it this way, that “suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” Sometime we suffer ourselves, or suffer along with someone else’s circumstances. We learn to persevere through doubt, through roadblocks. We grow in character, not mechanically compliant but ecstatically energetic and creative. And out of all this, we gain a perspective on being hopeful and trusting that God will guide us and keep us moving forward on this adventure we call life. So enjoy this day and the next by trusting in the hope that God offers and the invitation He gives you to walk along beside Him.

“I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will live in hope” (Acts 2:25-26 NIV)