Hey all,
Firstly apologies for the fact that I haven't posted in a while. I've been pretty busy of late, as well as the fact that my home internet has been playing up. But nevermind, here I am.
The title of this post may be familiar to some of you, particularly any Americans who happen to be reading. It is of course, the title of Barack Obama's last book, which I can't claim to have read, but have seen referenced quite a lot of late, owing largely to his fairly prolific presidential campaign. Hope does seem to be a definite theme of his campaign, appearing quite a lot in any articles/speeches concerning him. And why not? Everyone wants to put their hope in something. Even if it's just that England might actually score tries in the second-half, and not chuck away a pretty stable lead! But having been thinking about hope, what can we say about it from a Christian perspective?
On my wall next to my desk, I have the words of this hymn:
My Hope is Built
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly trust in Jesus’ Name.
Refrain
On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand.
When darkness seems to hide His face,
I rest on His unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.
His oath, His covenant, His blood,
Support me in the whelming flood.
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my Hope and Stay.
When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh may I then in Him be found.
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before His throne.
(Edward Mote, 1834)
At the heart of these words is the belief that for the Christian, we have a solid hope that we are guaranteed will never fade. With all due respect to Barack Obama, he can never promise such a hope. All attempts to seek another source of hope will ultimately prove fruitless. Why? The Bible promises so:
"And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you." (Psalm 39:7, ESV).
"So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain." (Hebrews 6:17-19, ESV).
"For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope." (Romans 15:4, ESV).
Our hope is in God alone, in the promise of His infallible word, that through Christ we might have eternal life with Him. Hebrews shows us that in God's covenant with us through Christ, we are given a "sure and steadfast anchor of the soul". Like a ship safely moored in a storm, we will never be wrenched out of our harbour.
The last Scripture from Romans gives an insight into how we cultivate such a hope. Regular and deep meditation on the Scriptures fuels hope. Why? Because it is here that we meet God. In His word He reveals to us His plans, promises and character. People often ask how they can know God. The answer lies in spending time with His word, and allowing the Holy Spirit to embed it in our hearts, until the promises that it contains become entwined in our daily lives. In an essence, this is why spending time reading our Bibles and committing it to our hearts is so important. If we never spend time with the Word, then we will never be aware of sovereign truths when we need them most, in those hours of temptation and torment when all else fails. C.H. Spurgeon famously commented that "a Bible that falls apart is probably read by someone whose life doesn't", and there is a lot of truth in that.
Audacity of hope? Well, I suppose it takes some boldness to put your faith in God and His Word. But rest assured, it will never, never, ever prove in vain.
"And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ." (Philippians 1:6, ESV).
Blessings
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3 comments:
Very nice, i think i am going to use some of this to as part of a Bible study i want to do on depression and how to fight it from a Christian point of view.
Our hope should, obviously, be different from that of the world. See 1 Peter 3.15 - and as both 1 peter and Col 1. 3-5 state our hope should change our lives... bit of a challenge letting that hope be something that the world recognises as being something they dont have!
If you're talking clinical depression then the best book I found useful was "A Practical Workbook for the Depressed Christian" by John Lockley. Other than that, Spurgeon wrote a classic article on depression in pastors that is very good: http://www.the-highway.com/articleSept99.html
It's important to differentiate between people who are simply a bit "blue", and those who are actually clinically depressed. We all have times when things are a bit down, but actual depression is prolonged (click here for a better description: http://www.who.int/classifications/apps/icd/icd10online/?gf30.htm+f32). Probably something to bear in mind if you do write something, as it's easy to get things wrong, and then write something that a clinically depressed person misunderstands because of their condition, and ends up feeling even worse than before.
Cheers anyway!
How can I submit stuff for Photizo, btw?
Sorry poor choice of words on my part. It isnt clinical, merely a tendancy to view things through blue tinted glasses if you see what i mean. as with many things a thought through choice of words is vital in communicating ably to other people. I will send you the invite again to subkmit stuff to Photizo. Check your warwick email.
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