The Audacity of Hope

Sometimes we get into funks within our spiritual lives. There are times when apathy sinks in and it's not necessarily a bitterness toward the Lord that prevails in us, but just the unmoved heart.

They say the opposite of love is not hate but apathy. If that is the case, then when apathetic we are farther from God as opposed to when we hate him.

Or maybe it's the fact that we may be experiencing trials and tribulations sent out way. These cause us to just want to forget about everything that is coming our way. Sort of like the don't see, don't tell policy. If one does not confront it, one does not necessarily have to do deal with it.

Regardless of our necessary situations, there is one thing that is certain.

We all experiences the lows of the valleys as well as the peaks of freedom when running this race of endurance with the Lord.

There are times when our faith puts us situations where we don't have much to wake up to. Sure we know that we are "blessed". We know in our minds that we have a roof over our heads, clothes on our back, and food on the table waiting for us. But yet when a lot of us hit these funks in our faith it feels like the living spirit within us seems to be sucked out eventually.

And there are eventually going to be times when we feel we have nothing. Hopefully it won't get to that perspective, but it's possible that it may. There are times when our faith brings us to the pinnacle of the fork in the road.

It's when we meet the fork in the road that we have choices to make. We can continue to simply just give in. Give in the pitfalls that Satan is allowed to place in our lives under the sovereignty of the Lord of course. Or we can have the conscious attitude to let the little light that we have shine.

As in the popular gospel song This Little Light some lines read "This little light of mine. I'm gonna let it shine." Sometimes that light, which is the faith and hope we have in our Lord Jesus Christ's promises are things we must hold onto.

Because if we can not trust God, then who can we trust?

Romans 5:5 tells us that "And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us."

Just as politicians, leaders, or whomever comes our way tell us that we must be patient, we too must be patient. Patient with this light as little as it may be burning inside of us protecting it at all costs. Because if we lose the hope in the promises of what God has set before us then this picture comes.

Imagine the person who wakes up while lying on their bed. They slowly open their eyes as the sun slowly filters in through the blinds. As they are lying there even before they get up, they don't want to get up. Not necessarily because they are physically tired, but because they are drained. Due to all the unfortunate circumstances that one encounters, this individual has lost the incentive to live life.

How many times do we no longer have the hope and just live these defeated lives when we should have all the hope in the world?

1 Corinthians 15:57-58
But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

But here is the thing. Hope is not easily perishable. Hope does not spoil. Hope is something that one may hold onto through the coldest of winters or the hottest of summers.

There is an audacity to hope that is brought to the table and that is because Christ has instilled in the perseverance for this light to continue.

So maybe what we need to do is understand the position that we are in and not try to do this on our own. Having hope to not give in is one thing; understanding that one can get out of the hole by themselves is another.

However before we can ask the Spirit to get us on in the right track to help us get us out of the hole we are in, we must cling onto our faiths. And in this it is what we understand the audacity of hope to be.