The Mystery of Hope

I read something the other day that shook me. It was a tweet from a pastor name Paul Tripp. Here is what it said:

"Hope is not a situation, location, idea, or thing. Hope is a person and his name is Jesus."

It made me stop.... and think. What do I put my hope in? What do I trust? What do I depend on? The definition of hope is " to look forward to with desire and reasonable confidence; to believe, desire or trust." As I pondered this quote, I cringed as I thought of things that I so quickly put my "hope" in. Finances. Family. My car. Good health. The fact that I'm an American. It was a sobering reality.

Hope seems to be a word that gets thrown around casually in conversations. "I hope my team wins tonight." "I hope the restaurant doesn't have a long wait." "I hope we're not late for the movie." It challenges me to be slow to speak... to weigh my words. Now don't hear me say to tip the scales and go legalistic with this. I'm not asking anyone to alter the English language, but I am saying this.... I choose to put more weight to this word, "hope." I'm sure the fact that I'm going to work for an organization called Mission of HOPE, has magnified my awareness of this word. As I move forward and begin to live my life in Haiti, I want people to find their hope in Jesus. I want them to know that their hope IS Jesus. It's not comfort, possessions or the myriad of other things we try and complicate life with. Our hope is Jesus. Plain and simple.