I read until this feeling lifted then was reminded of another dream. I’m not a golfer but did have clubs and went out a few times. The dream was about playing a perfect game, even getting a hole in one. I woke up realizing why people golf. It is the hope of doing better the next time, of improving their game.
Callaway says that each year more than 20 million people play on 13,000 courses in America and many new courses open each year to accommodate those who are hopeful. This is a bit better than describing it as a long walk. Hope is a Bible word where it is not just about a fresh start nor does it have anything to do with my goodness or ability. Instead it is believing in the unchanging promises offered to me by my Savior, Jesus Christ, promises like these:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter 1:3–9)My realistic dream defined a dark, sad day, but God reminds me that He is true, even in the face of reality, never mind despairing dreams. Hope opens doors that despair slams shut. Hope looks for the good instead of the worst and turns problems into opportunities and fear into faith.
How is it recognized? I once wrote an essay on hope using the smell of cinnamon buns to illustrate that hope is like that; I cannot see the yummy buns but know they are there waiting for me. Yet hope Is no pie-in-the-sky illusion. It does not make me complacent, content to leave the world as it is by thinking about a secure future. Instead, it impels me to take hold of God’s goodness and share it with others, maybe not a stadium full of people but with those God puts in my life.
Losing hope in a dream is not the same as losing it in reality because reality is the dwelling place of God’s promises. He tells me:
Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, (Hebrews 10:22–24)PRAY: Jesus, the way to beat this hopeless feeling is to focus on Your faithfulness and how You keep Your promises. Your goodness can turn hearts that seem pleased with their own misery, or those who seem to love their own wickedness. Hope can change the torment of Your conviction into welcome enlightenment, and change the fondness of our sin into a remedy to eradicate it. Your love and grace can make those displeased with their condition into the realization we are unable to raise ourselves from sinner to saint. No matter how far anyone falls, Your goodness can triumph over all blindness and sin and turn anyone from nothing to children of God. This is the hope that enables me to think of ways to encourage others to live for You in the hope that You give. Feeding them sweet buns might open hearts to Your message of hope; however, feeding on Your word fills empty hearts and turns unnecessary despair with joy that You set before me. You give me words to say and actions to do that bring hope to the hearts of others who need it like we all do.
No comments:
Post a Comment