Tag: Hope

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Hope – How to be Good at Hope

From ages past no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who works for those who wait for him. – Isaiah 64:4 (NRSV)

What a mysterious passage! This verse sets up an interesting theological idea. The first half of the verse talks about how amazing and powerful God is. From generation to generation there has never been anyone more marvelous than our God. God is the creator of the world and savior of all humankind.

This week in advent, we are focusing on the spiritual discipline of hope. Being good at hope (and yes, you can be good at hope) means you must have two things: Patience and Imagination. Consider what it means to be patience. Nobody hopes for things they already have, rather we have to wait for the things we are hoping for. Verse four says that God only works for those who wait on him, not the people who rush to get things done their own way. But we shouldn’t just sit around waiting on God to work without any idea of what we are looking for.

Think about it this way: there was once a little girl who was participating in a scavenger hunt. As she wandered through the yard she got more and more upset because she couldn’t find any of the clues that her parents hid for her. Finally, she gives up and asks for help. When her brother comes over, he easily finds one of the clues and hands it to the little girl. She was shocked! The little girl had walked past the clue a dozen times, but she didn’t realize that’s what she was supposed to be looking for. She lacked the imagination to see what was right in front of her.

Today’s passage calls us to practice hope with patience and imagination. We are not supposed to wait around doing nothing and expecting God to act. We must remember what our God is like and then live into the expectation of what God will do. Take time today to ask God for the right combination of patience and imagination.

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Hope – God on Stage

Oh, that you would tear open the heavens and come down, so that the mountains would quake at your presence. – Isaiah 64:1 (NRSV)

This verse is a passionate prayer that God would interrupt the whole world. The imagery is violent and startling. If God were to act like this, then there would be no denying who was in charge. The speaker is asking God to storm on to the stage in the middle of the play. God is the director. God is in charge. If things are going awry then it is God who should jump in and make things right.

But, if any director were to jump onstage in the middle of the play, then the play would be over. The only time you see the director is at the curtain call. Instead, God chose to enter the play as an actor. He came to us as a little child. A helpless baby born in a barn to a poor family.

Why might God have chosen this particular method? Why would God hold off on the big flashy entrance and come to earth as a humble child? Well, one reason might be that if God came with thunder and lightning, there would be no need for faith. Everyone would be forced to acknowledge God as King, and God would not be sure who really wanted an authentic relationship with him.

God might also be trying to teach us something about who Jesus is and who we are supposed to be. We are not supposed to go through the world throwing our weight around and lording over people. As Jesus followers, we are to be humble like Jesus, treating everyone as our neighbor.

Now, this prayer from Isaiah is still really helpful. It is a hopeful cry for God to act. Whenever you see terrible things on the news or you’ve experienced some evil, we should pray asking God to intervene in a big way. The amazing thing about God is that He is planning on coming back in a big way to right all wrongs and save His people. God has promised to someday jump on stage and make things right. When we reach the curtain call of this life God will make a big appearance and things will be made right.