Hope and Its Surprises: 2021 in One Word

Those who know me well, know that I choose a new word at the birth of each year.

A word to guide, empower, and challenge me.

Twelve months ago, I had been convinced by the Spirit through prayer and study that HOPE - for whatever reason - was to be the word that belonged to me in 2021.

Now, you don't argue with God when He shows you your need, but that doesn't mean you don't end up trying to at least once.

At the beginning of this past year, the best definition I could raise for the word HOPE seemed to live along the lines of chaotic optimism. It was to me a word that was only spoken by those who closed their eyes to the real possibility of pain, failure and rejection.

But the lesson I received was far weightier than this supposedly trite principle.

The Gospel instructs us to live in HOPE. Paul tells us in Romans 5 that it "does not put us to shame" (v5). Matthew writes that in the name of Christ "the Gentiles will HOPE" (12:21). In Ephesians 1, we read that we are literally "called to hope" (v18).

The message of Christ's resurrection does not defy reality, but rather defines it.

I say this because we are taught that reality is marred by darkness which cannot be defeated, wounds that could never be healed, and risks that will always end in disaster. This is not reality, but merely the narrative the devil would have us believe.

Reality is marked by the Truth that Christ's resurrection determines the condition of our entire world. To HOPE means not that we shut our eyes to the brokenness around us, chanting "everything will work out just fine".

Hope means believing that the Spirit speaks true through John in saying that "the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it" (1:5).

However, in the words of Dallas Willard - "We don't believe something by merely saying we believe it, or even when we believe that we believe it. We believe something when we act as if it were true."

So, practically lived out - what does is mean to HOPE? 

I can tell you what it has meant for me.

To me it has meant to cling to the Truth that although the world is corrupted, not everything will end in disaster. Maybe we have to take chances in this terrifyingly dark world. But maybe it's those very same risks that will lead us to the bravest, most beautiful chapters of our lives.

To HOPE means to go to war each day with the voice inside that says things are "too good to be true", and that every precious thing we treasure will crumble to dust before we ever feel its touch.

HOPE flies in the face of fear with the cry that HE IS NO LONGER ENTOMBED -

And this changes everything.