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Meditations for Hope

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	When All Hope is Gone	Hope and Expectation
	Hope and the Past	Hope and the Present
	Hope and the Future	Praying for Hope

Hope
Hope is an essential ingredient of life. And it is one of the foundations of recovery. The day-to-day struggles of recovery are just too overwhelming for us if we do not have a source of hope. Without hope, we will find ourselves either distracted or in despair. With hope, we can find the courage and strength to continue the hard work of recovery. Hope makes it possible for us to invest in the work of healing and changing because hope allows us to see that our current struggle is an investment in the future.

There is a big difference, of course, between hope and "wishful thinking." Wishful thinking is rooted in denial; it is a pretending about the future. It cuts us off from our feelings by offering an alternative reality in which we feel only pleasant emotions and everyone lives happily ever after. We can have wishful thinking without doing the hard work of recovery. Wishful thinking is easy. But it has no real substance. It will not satisfy us. It will not empower us for change.

The experience of hope begins to take root in us when we start to break out of the denial that has ruled our lives. Ironically, therefore, it is just when things seem impossible and we feel completely helpless that hope first becomes possible. Facing the reality of our present circumstances and facing the fact that we do not control the future - this is the difficult soil in which hope grows. But hope can grow. The God of Hope is eager to give us the gift of hope. God has plans for us. They may not have the fairy-tale endings we wish for, but God has good plans for us. The hope we need can come from knowing that God is greater than our disappointments, greater than our failures, greater than our brokenness.

May the God of Hope give you the courage to hope again today.

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When All Hope is Gone

Then they led him away to crucify him. Matthew 27:31

There are days when we find it difficult, if not impossible, to sustain hope. The day of Jesus' death was such a day. It was a day of despair for all who had put their hope in him. It was a day of unbearable grief for those who had been changed by his love. In such terrible moments hope disappears. Darkness seems to be all that remains. God seems absent.

It is, however, one of the most fundamental convictions of the Christian faith that, in those times when hope seems unattainable, God is at work. In that moment when even Jesus had a difficult time sustaining hope in God's redemptive purposes, God was fighting the decisive battle which would extend the rule of his kingdom to all peoples. In that moment of terror, the foundations of reality were exposed and God was at work on the deep structures of the world. God could do work at that moment which would have been impossible during ordinary times.

Much the same is true of our moments of hopelessness. It is when hope grows weakest that our foundations are most exposed. It is when the struggle to sustain hope is most difficult that God can work on the deep structure of our persons. It is at those times that God can reach the unreachable crevices of our hearts and work on regions where fear and despair seem to reign.

It is a terrible thing to lose hope. But all is not lost. Though we lose hope, God is still at work. It may be that during our season of hopelessness, God will extend the rule of his kingdom into new regions of our lives.

In those times when I cannot hope, Lord,

help me to remember the work which

you accomplished during Jesus' hour of darkness.

Remind me, when I lose all hope,

that all hope is not gone

because you continue your work in me.

Please extend the rule of your kingdom

into the deepest regions of my heart

where fear and despair have reigned for too long.

Amen.

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Hope and Expectation

. . . because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death to guide our feet into the path of peace Luke 1:78-79

Many of us grew up expecting bad things. Some of us learned to expect physical abuse. As a result we may find ourselves covering our heads to ward off a blow when someone is offering a hug. Others of us learned to expect to be neglected. As a result we may experience confusion or fear when someone shows an interest in getting to know us. Expectations which are formed early in life are difficult for us to change. It is not an easy thing to allow ourselves to hope when our hopes have been disappointed over and over again in the past.

Learning to hope, however, means opening ourselves to the possibility that the future may be different from what we have known in the past. To hope is to allow ourselves to anticipate the possibility of good things. Hope is the expectation of good. It is the ability to look for the rising of the sun, while sitting in the predawn darkness.

Our hope for the future is rooted in a conviction about God's character. It is because of God's tender mercies that we find it possible to hope. Because God's character -- tender and full of mercy -- the sun will rise. We can anticipate good things because God is a good and loving God.

I know what it is like to live in darkness, Lord.

My house has been built in the shadow of death.

God of mercy, heal me.

God of tenderness, give light.

Build in me a capacity for hope.

Rise on my darkness, Lord.

Guide my feet out of the paths of fear

and into the path of peace.

Amen.

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Hope and the Past

I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds. Psalm 77:11-12

Sometimes hope fails us because of the pain of present circumstances. The intensity of the daily struggle can overwhelm us and crowd out hope for the future. We find ourselves unable to focus on a hope-full future because we cannot see beyond the burdens of the present. But we need hope in order to continue the journey. Without it we cannot go on. Without hope there is only the despair that comes when we think nothing will ever change.

Reviewing our experiences of God's help in the past is one way of nurturing hope. When present events crowd out hope, leaving despair and fear, we can turn to the disciplines of remembering. It can sustain our faith and renew our determination to continue the journey.

Remembering is not an easy discipline for us. Our memory is not good. Even miracles seem to age quickly - they become 'miracles of long ago'. Things that seemed unimaginably wonderful at the time can quickly fade in our memory as present concerns demand our attention. Dramatic breakthroughs in recovery that seemed to be powerful signs of God's grace and presence may seem painfully ordinary after a few months. For this reason it may be necessary to find someone to help us with the discipline of remembering. Hope can often be renewed by asking a trusted friend to remind us where we have been An objective review of the journey to this point helps us see God's sustaining grace in our lives. And that gives us the hope to go on.

Lord, help me to remember the specific ways

you have sustained me in the past.

Help me to remember how I have changed.

Help me to remember your love and grace

so that I can grow in my capacity for hope today.

Amen.

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Hope and the Present

Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:31

Hope gives us strength. We need strength for the journey of recovery. We need strength to make the changes that need to be made -- and strength to grieve the losses which come with change. We need strength to keep on keeping on. Recovery requires a great deal of physical, emotional and spiritual strength. We draw that strength day-to-day from hope.

There are times when hope will allow us to soar. We will feel the exhilaration of change and new freedom. We will think about the future and imagine good things. We will soar with gratitude and joy because of hope.

There are other times when hope will allow us to run and not grow weary. We will keep going. Keep changing. Keep working. Keep feeling. We may get tired but hope will keep us from getting weary and wanting to give up. Hope helps us to keep running.

There are other times when hope will allow us to walk without fainting. Some days, in our recovery journey, continuing the journey at all is very difficult. The struggle we face may be so intense that we would faint if it were not for hope. But hope helps us to take the next step. One slow step at a time. Step by step, without fainting.

Thank you, Lord, for the gift of hope.

Thank you for the days when hope

allows me to soar.

And for the days when it

allows me to keep running.

And thank you for the days when hope

gives me the courage to walk

without fainting.

Thank you for hope.

Amen.

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Hope and the Future

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

Hope is about the future. It may be oriented to the next hour, or the next day, or the next month or year or decade. But hope is always about anticipation.

Those of us who like to control things often find hope difficult because we do not control the future. Many of us are compulsive makers-of-plans. We are willing to work ourselves to death trying to make our plans become reality. But when our hopes and vision for the future are based only on what we can control, our vision is inevitably narrowed and impoverished.

We need to remind ourselves regularly, therefore, that God's vision for the future is better than our own. God sees possibilities and opportunities that we cannot see. The horizons of God's imagination are not bounded. When we root our hope in God, a totally different future is possible. It is not a future we can control. God's plans may not be the same as our plans. But we can return again and again to God as our source of hope, and God will remind us that his plans for us are good.

God has been clear about his plans for us. It is God's intention to give us a hope and a future. This is not a promise of a trouble-free life. It is not a promise of immunity from struggle. But it is a promise of hope. God has been with us in the past. God is with us in the present. And God will be with us in the future.

Thank you for paying attention to my future, Lord.

Thank you for making plans.

Help me today to rest in the thought that

your plans for me include blessing.

Open my heart today to the hope and the future

you have prepared for me.

Amen.

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Praying for Hope

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13

Hope does not usually come as the just reward for our hard work and struggle. It comes as a gift. The experience of hope is very much like the experience of receiving a surprise gift that is perfectly suited to our needs. A really good gift is one that fits perfectly both the giver and the receiver. Hope fits our needs perfectly. But if a gift is out of character with the giver, then it may be difficult for the receiver to accept without reservations. Fortunately, hope is just the kind of gift that fits God's character. It is a perfect fit for God. The God of Hope loves to give hope.

We need to remind ourselves daily that we do not serve the god-of-relentless-cheerfulness, or the god-of-naivete, or the god-of-blind-optimism. We serve the God of Hope. God is hope-full and loves to share his hope-full-ness with us. We can come to God with our fear, doubt and despair and God will give good gifts to us. When all other reasons for hope fail us, we can return to the God of Hope because God is greater than our disappointment, greater than our failure, greater than the problems and conflicts in our hearts and our homes and our communities and our world.

Surprise me today, Lord.

Surprise me with hope.

Open my eyes to see you clearly.

Help me to see your hope-full-ness.

By the power of the Holy Spirit,

cause me to overflow with hope.

Amen.

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