Hope

There are at least two kinds of hope.

One kind is inextricably tied to faith: It is an expectation based on trust in God. This kind of hope believes that God has his best in mind for us. This kind of hope breeds a sort of confidence that because of who God is and, more pertinently, what he has done for us on the cross of Christ, we are guaranteed a part in his future actions. "I have faith in what God has done... so, my hope for the future is in him alone."

The other kind of hope is the kind that we read about in the newspapers and the best-seller lists: This kind of hope is more of a feeling. It is really an unfounded desire that what we want to happen is what is going to happen. "My hope is that these things will happen and because they should happen--they will happen. I hope."

The first kind is what we find in 1 Peter 1:3: "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."

The second kind is more like having a feeling that the stock market is going to go my way today.

Interesting how the same word that can elicit huge emotion is made to mean so many different things. This is why language is so dangerously beautiful.

(On a side note: I am so grateful for my wife, Rachel, and the conversations she starts and the ways she makes me think through things, like 'hope.' Yay for marriage.)