The Blessing Cycle
Hebrews 11:1
It takes a living hope to inspire a bold faith. St. Paul makes that clear when he tells the Colossians that hope is the spring from which faith and love flow. Faith cannot grow in the soil of despair or distraction. If hope is leeched away, faith will wither.
But if hope issues in faith, faith also stimulates hope. They are symbionts – each mutually benefiting the other. This is clear from Paul’s blessing to the Roman Christians: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Hope leads to faith, which leads to hope, which leads to greater faith, which leads to more certain hope. People who get caught up in this “blessing cycle” experience a richness of peace and joy that otherscan only imagine.
Hope is clearly critical to the Christian life, but what is it? Is it a feeling – a soft, ephemeral “thing with feathers” as Emily Dickenson put it? Or is it something else, something hard and solid, like the “anchor” described by the author of Hebrews (Hebrews 6:19)?
We often use the word “hope” in ways the biblical writers never would. We say, “I hope I get that promotion,”or “I hope, I hope, I hope the doctor doesn’t say it is cancer.” But these are wishes, not hopes. It is not the
strength of a desire that makes it hope; it is the source from which it originates.
A wish proceeds from us; a hope comes to us, through a word or promise spoken by a trustworthy person. When God is the one speaking that word, hope is kindled in our souls. As such, hope is never merely in a desired outcome (that would be a wish) but in a trusted person – in God.
Many people have no hope; they only have wishes. And wishes, no matter how strongly held, will not sustain the spiritual life or enrich one’s faith. That takes hope. Where do you find hope? A good place to start is with the Scriptures – God’s hope-giving gift to the world (Romans 15:4). Spend some time there. Let God speak to you. Discover hope.
S. L.
BOLD FAITH INITIATIVE 