Hope against all hope

We have “hope against all hope” … we desire something to happen; we pray for it to happen; we cross our fingers that it will happen; we trust that by some miracle it will happen; but the facts just do not align themselves up so that our hearts would be encouraged. Our backs are against the wall, so to speak, we are facing the dragons and the whirlwind, trees are falling all around us, the water is rising … and yet, we hope.

Abraham hoped against all hope that he would be blessed with a child … preferably a male child … even when he was approaching 90-years old. God had spoken. God had promised. Abraham hoped. Read it for your self in Romans 8:14. Look at what Abraham had accomplished in his life. I have often wondered if the child Isaac had come much earlier in his life would Abraham have failed to become the individual that he became? Holding onto hope in the midst of what seems like a dead-end can only produce strength of character and a fortitude of commitment.

Hope is different than faith because faith is “forsaking all I trust him” approach to living. Hope is living within the context of faith that circumstances will be different within the context of our life. Hope is standing straight and staying strong in the face of unlikely odds. Hope grows from faith. Without faith there is no hope only luck, a chance, just being in the right place at the right time, coming into this life out of the right gene-pole, making friends of influence – the roll of the dice, the drawing to an inside straight, the shaky hold onto a thin line of possibility without any probability involved. Because of Abraham’s faith in the Almighty he held on to his hope against all hope … and was ultimately rewarded with a son. God is a God of promises kept. God honors faith and in so doing reassures us that hope will spring eternal.

What are the things, situations, life circumstances for which you are holding onto hope … against all hope?

It is important to remember in whom you believe, but it is also encouraging to remember those who believe in you. They are the encouragers, the cheerleaders, the ones standing along the path of the race providing water and nourishment as you run the race of life. They see you, much like God, not for what you are, but what you can be. They hold out hope for you even when you fail to hold out much hope for yourself. After all I’m too old, frail, limited, tired, exhausted … and still they hope … still they are in your corner cheering you ever onward. Because of their presence we can actually hold out a hope that just seems impossible, but hey, after all, all things are possible with God. Look at Abraham! Who would have thunk-it? It is truly a testimony of a realized promised … a fulfillment of a hope … hope against all hope!

Quote for today: Hope means hoping when things are hopeless, or it is no virtue at all...As long as matters are really hopeful, hope is mere flattery or platitude; it is only when everything is hopeless that hope begins to be a strength. ~G.K. Chesterton