"Hope for Hope"

Hope seemed just like a flitting bird,

That never quite would light,

Just when I thought that it might stay,

It always would take flight.

And so the hope I held onto,

Sometimes by just a thread,

Was hope that someday I’d have hope,

But oftentimes with dread,

That I might never find it,

Or I couldn’t make it stay,

My mind sometimes would argue,

Said you’ll never be okay.

But something good would happen,

See there, I’d argue back,

Hope for hope is hopeful,

No matter what you lack.

But still it was illusory,

Might light and sing a song,

But then I’d look and listen,

It flew and was long gone.

So up and down and down and up,

Life roller-coasted through,

Then there were more downs than ups,

And I just had no clue.

The hope that I had prayed for,

Cared when a sparrow falls,

And no, not an emotion,

But a Person to me calls.

And He is hope personified,

And what I didn’t know,

Is that he would come and stay,

His love for me He’d show.

Under His wings hope builds a nest,

And there within my heart,

Tells me I will be okay,

And He will ne’er depart.

“And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has give us.” (Romans 5:5, NIV)

The reason people become hopeless is because they are disappointed so much they quit hoping. Their hopes were trampled again and again, so they made the mental and emotional maneuver to stop hoping in order to avoid any more painful letdowns. They become jaded, cynical, and pessimistic. Often they are clinically depressed, and secretly angry that other people seem to be doing better than they. When people try to cheer them up, they don’t receive it and think if others really understood how much they’ve been hurt, no one would expect them to hope again. Enter Jesus the hope-giver and hope personified. He can heal us of the past disappointments and replace them with joyful expectation. The love Jesus gives us, made real by the power and presence of the Holy Spirit, lifts us out of the deepest despair and gives us a whole new lease on life. The hope He gives is not naive about the harsh realities of life, but recognizes a higher reality that trumps the rest. The hope is fierce and life-changing.

Lord, free us from disappointment and give us hope, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Steve Boaldin, used by permission. Thanks, Steve, and God bless you.