What is hope?

Posted on January 14, 2014 Updated on February 6, 2014

For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it. In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.

I finally was able to get on my bike and ride again today! This summer as I was living with my parents and the three of us were sharing one car, so many times I would ride my bike from place to place as my form of transportation. I really enjoy riding, and love really taking the time to get places, and not feeling like I am in a rush (because I can only go so fast so I really plan out when I need to leave). However, once I got a car, I lost the passion to get on my bike a sweat in order to get somewhere, the car always sounded way better.

After having a convo last night with my buddy I felt inspired to start riding my bike more as a form of transportation to nearby places. So, I tried that today. I rode my bike 4 miles to the gym, and felt great! The only problem, is the reason I felt great is because it was downhill to the gym… Now I had to go 4 miles uphill, into the wind (OK, I know I’m sounding like your grandpa, but it was pretty bad!). I remember riding, and I wasn’t even at the big hill yet, and thinking to myself “There’s no way I am making it up this hill.” ((I like my parenthesis, I hope you follow all this! It will get good 🙂 (I hope..)) You also need to know, my bike isn’t designed for hills, it’s mostly a sprint bike, so part of being scared of hills is me being a pansy, but part is legitimate)

I remember getting to the first, and lesser, of the two hills, and I told myself “I will make it to the next road and get off and walk the rest of the way”. Next thing I knew, I was at that sign, and I felt ok! So, I kept setting markings for myself to get to, and I made it all the way up the hill! Then came the second hill. No markings on this one, and I just moved into the house I am at now, so I am still unfamiliar with the area. As I was going up the hill, the wind started blowing straight in my face, and I was almost going nowhere. I had no idea where I was, I had no mark that I wanted to get to, so I dismounted. Once I orientated myself, I realized I was only 50 yards from my goal! Part of me was relieved I didn’t have to walk that far, but most of me was devastated with myself that I didn’t conquer the hill!!

It reminded me of the verse at the top of this post that a pastor talked about last week at Mt of Olives church in Mission Viejo. Many times in our lives we pick out points and say “Once I graduate High School, my life will be great!” “After I get my degree it will be easier to get a job” “Once I get a girl, then I will be happy because I am closer to being married and having kids” “Once I own my own house I can really settle down” “I will save spending time with the grandkids until after I retire”. We are constantly making all these marks in our life that we want to get to. I do not believe it is bad to have goals, but I do believe it is bad to focus on the goal rather than the One who will enable those goals to happen.

The pastor had a quote that has stuck with me, “We need to be blind to what the Lord is doing. We will never be able to see what the Lord is doing 100%, instead we need to increase the senses God has given us as opposed to trying to gain the senses we don’t have.” As we are living our life, there are many hopes, dreams, and things we want to do, however, those shouldn’t be our ultimate. Our ultimate needs to be relying on the Holy Spirit to take us where we need to go, and persevering through whatever trials, hard-times, or hills we may encounter. “For who hopes for what he already sees?” Our hope needs to be in eternity, something we cannot see, but something we know we as children of God will be delivered to!