I am talking about hope on Sunday morning. Hope is the desire for some future good with the expectation of obtaining it. Here are some thoughts about hope:
Hope is the dream of a soul awake. -French Proverb
Hope never abandons you; you abandon it. -George Weinberg
People can live about forty days without food, about three days without water, about eight minutes without air, but can only truly live for one moment without hope.
Hope is faith holding out its hand in the dark. -George Iles
Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.
I am interested to know: what do you hope for? Let me know your first thought. Don't think about it too much. Just share your hope(s).
12 comments:
Let me preface what I'm writing by saying I've already broken the first commandment of Finnestad, I thought too much about it. In my defense I thought about it so much because I realize I hope for a lot of things. I hope that my work doesn't bore me. I hope that the day goes smoothly. I hope that my kids are happy, healthy and good citizens. I hope my wife is happy in her life and not too stressed. I hope that I find peace in where I am, what I do and with who I am. I hope a lot.
But I'm not sure I believe that any amount of hoping will change anything. So sometimes I don't even hope. I just do.
I do all in my power to bring about the things I hope for. I apply myself to my job, try to find meaning in my life and be happy where I am, no matter how much it might appear to suck. I do everything I can to enable, guide and empower my kids to excel in whatever the heck it is they're doing. I do things (or try not to do the wrong things) to give my wife peace and contentment. And after I'm exhausted with all the doing and can't come up with more to do I realize that I have to let things go and just hope. It's all I have left at that point. I realize that there's only two things that are cerain in this world and they're not any of the stuff above. So, I guess if there's one thing I hope for, one all-encompassing thing, it's that I hope I've done the right thing and that it's enough.
I hope that we would learn to value biblical success and not our current materialistic success. We need a major paradigm shift on what it really means to be successful.
I hope for physical and emotional health and wellness for my family and myself. Since I started going to The Waters Edge a few months ago, I have started hoping to make amends with some people from my past.
I hope for inner peace.
At the end of the day I hope I am a great husband and a great dad. I also hope to make the world a better place.
Jeff
I hope to grow in my relationship with Jesus Christ. Everything else will take care of itself when that happens.
I hope for God to show me what He wants from me during this life. Sometimes I think I am right where God wants me to be and other times I feel like I am not there yet. I guess what I really hope for then is a mixture of clear purpose and contentment with whatever that purpose is. Maybe not even contentment, but excitement and joy. What do you hope for Craig?
Craig -
I appreciate your message on Hope this morning. As I listened to you, I realized that I hope for many of the same things that the other "posters" do...and then some.
In addition to the scripture you read, though, there is another one on Hope that I think is relevant. I know that it has helped me in the past...
"And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he hs given us." -- Romans 5:2b-5
Keep up the good work, Craig! :)
Hey Nick,
That is a great verse. I didn't think of that one. I'll try to get my sermon topic out earlier in the week so astute people like you can give me insight like this.
I have always been intrigued by Romans 5 because it tells us that suffering can lead to hope. For all of us who are suffering, this is a great promise.
Anonymous,
Good stuff. I admire your dedication to your family. You made the sermon a few times this morning. Thanks for sharing.
Julia,
I'll being praying for you and your relationships to be healed. "It's better to forgive and live than it is to remember and resent."
Jeff,
You seem to have it right! "Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need."
-Matthew 6:33
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