Backward Hope

I’ve been thinking about hope and stories and something my friend Jon wrote a few years ago:

“Don’t cling to hopes.”

You might expect me to argue, but our hopes are different from authentic hope.

Looking back, I watched someone with a spinal cord injury walk out of the hospital. I cling to hope of healing, because why wouldn’t God heal me like He healed that guy?

Looking back, that sick loved one got better, and the wayward kid found her way. I cling to hope that the same will happen in my family.

But what if the wayward kid still wanders? What if sickness leads to a funeral?

Despite my hope, I still sit in a wheelchair.

Is hope a lie?

Notice the rear-view mirror in the photo? It’s small for a reason. In cycling, and in life, we’re supposed to focus on what’s in front. Those hopes to which I cling are promises I concocted based on someone else’s stories in that teeny-tiny rear-view mirror.

HOPE: A confident expectation about the future based on faith that God keeps His promises.

Hope is about the future, that vast expanse NOT the mirror. I don’t get to decide what’s down the road, because God keeps HIS promises, not mine. Authentic hope is confidence in the journey based on trust in the One who promised to travel with me.

In Jon’s words, “Don’t cling to hopes, cling to the One who gives hope.”

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Back there in the rear-view mirror, someone decided to do something to fight injustice and their project flourished. I’m tempted by the hope that the FREEDOM TOUR will flourish in exactly the same way, because why wouldn’t God bless our efforts like He blessed theirs? I fixate on self-created “hope” and become disillusioned when God doesn’t keep a promise He never made.

He promises to use our efforts for good, but I don’t get to decide what “good” looks like. He asks that I do my best and trust Him for the outcome, and He promises to journey with me.

So, I move forward with hope, confident that He’ll keep those promises.