Hope

11 Then he said to me: "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, 'Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.' 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: 'This is what the Sovereign Lord says: O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 14 I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.'"
Ezekiel 37:11-14

“I hope the preacher does not preach so long today.”
“I hope we have fried chicken for Sunday lunch.”
“I hope I pass my algebra test on Monday.”

We toss the word hope around so easily, but who is the source of the “I hopes”? Are we relying on ourselves or others? What happens if these events don’t happen as we “hope”? We aimlessly cast these hopes to the wind and move on to the next item on our “to hope for” list. This kind of hope is not the kind of hope we celebrate as believers.

I recently studied the book of Ruth again. In the past I always related to Ruth and secretly compared myself to her dedication and loyalty. But this time, at my age and circumstances in life, I found myself relating more to Naomi. What a lesson in hope she has for us as believers. Although she was grieving the deaths of her husband and two sons, she was penniless, and bitter from the circumstances of life, she still knew the source of hope. She forged through the pain, confusion, bitterness to a God with open arms and a plan for deliverance.

This hope in God and His deliverance for her and Ruth led her to take an uncommon trip back from a foreign land to her homeland where she hoped to find refuge. Because of her actions based on a deeply imbedded hope in God, she continued the lineage of the Messiah who would be born generations later in her very on home town – Bethlehem. (I know this is not theological, but I see this as a wink and nod from God to Naomi for her perseverance in hope.)

Today’s headlines cause many people to fear the worse. The economics of the USA are plummeting, terrorism is a daily threat, global warming is the intangible monster we keep hearing about, but we have hope. We have a God who is in control. He invented the economy, knows the very thoughts and actions of terrorist before they do, and global warming is as small as the light from a match compared to the vast universe He created. He is a waiting and loving God who allows us to bring our confusion, bitterness, pain, and fear along with our hope to Him.

Like Ezekiel we may hear those around us say hope is gone. Like Naomi we may be at the end of our ropes with no where to turn. Rest assured believer, God is the source of our hope. He will open the graves and raise up his people. He will breathe His Spirit into us and He will settle our fears and give us a home with Him. He is the source of all hope. All He asks us to do is come to Him in hope.