Hope

Who or what have you placed your hope in? As I've gotten older, I tend to visit this question more fre-quently. I think it is because I know my days are fewer with each breath that I take. What in this life do I still need to fulfill? How do I keep moving forward with confidence and hope? What am I hoping for and how do I direct my life to attain it?

In my life I have had numerous mentors who have been so helpful in guiding my direction as I was growing. Like I did in my career, I need to take inventory of my life and reestablish my priorities according to how I’m living. I remember in one of my counseling sessions, my counselor told me as humans, we have a pattern in life and stages of living. These thoughts come into the forefront around 25, 30, 50, 65 years old, he gave me other ages, but those are ones specifically I remember. I remember he didn’t mention 40. It would be interesting to find out why. When I think of my 40’s, those were the years when things were all coming together. My career, financial resources, my family, my church involvement and such. So I’ve hit 65 this year. I don’t know if it was receiving my Medicare card or what, but my mind has really been reevaluating where I am at this stage. So much so, my burial and trust arrangements have been established. One of my main forefront thoughts is “Where is my relationship with God my creator?” For you it might be different. I can honestly say that in times of these evaluations, my relationship with God wasn’t in the forefront and should have been. My danger zone was thinking it was pretty solid and that is when it gets dangerous because you don’t focus on it as much. There is a difference in relying on one’s self and being self reliant. I know that I move forward by relying on myself to get things done for those around me, but I don’t rely on myself “only” in order to accomplish many tasks at hand. I’m prayerful and my reliance comes from God. It also takes a village. I’m sure everyone is familiar with that phrase. (Just a side thought.) I’m hopeful as I keep running the race.

I remember being asked by one of my atheist friends why I believed in an invisible man in the sky I call God. It caught me off guard and I pulled my thoughts together, prayed for words and responded. I’ve been taught through the Bible and I have a hope and belief system as a result of reading and studying the Bible. I have a hope that my life here on earth has a purpose and I have a hope in a promise that there is a perfect life after this one, called heaven. Again he asked but why do you believe it? I said, because it makes me happy and hopeful. God is good and God is love. There are historical events that correlate with the Bible teachings. I told him, I would rather have made the mistake of being hopeful and happy and being held accountable for my decisions and my actions in this life, than to believe in the hopeless existence of the dark abyss you put your belief in and live your life with no accountability for your actions. I asked him, what evidence do you have that there is no God?  He responded to me that my answer was the best answer he had ever received from a Christian when he asked them the same question.

Faith is a hope in believing in the things I cannot see. I have a good friend who gave me a plaque with this saying.

Romans 15:13 “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Romans 15:4 “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.”