Hope

Hope Against Hope

 

I found this poem the other day when I was looking up the phrase “hope against hope” in reference to Abraham in Romans 4. I thought it was good so I decided to share it with those who join me in the blog action.

 

Away, dark thoughts, you autumn clouds!
A golden spring is here!
Shall it be thus in sorrow and in lamentation
That my youthful years pass away?

No, through all my tears I still shall laugh,
Sing songs despite my troubles;
Have hope despite all odds,
I want to live! Away, you sorrowful thoughts!

On this poor, indigent ground
I shall sow flowers of flowing colors;
I shall sow flowers even amidst the frost,
And water them with my bitter tears.

And from those burning tears will melt
The frozen crust, so hard and strong,
Perhaps the flowers will bloom and
Bring about for me a joyous spring.

Unto a winding, flinty mountain
Shall I bear my weighty stone,
Yet, even bearing such a crushing weight,
Will I sing a joyful song.

Throughout a lasting night of darkness
Ne’er shall I rest my own eyes,
Always searching for the guiding star,
The bright empress of the dark night skies.

I shall not allow my heart to fall sleep,
Though gloom and misery envelop me,
Despite my certain feelings
That death is beating at my breast.

Death will settle heavily on that breast,
The snow covered by a cruel haze,
But fierce shall beat my little heart,
And maybe, with its ferocity, overcome death.

Yes, I will laugh despite my tears,
I’ll sing out songs amidst my misfortunes;
I’ll have hope despite all odds,
I will live! Away, you sorrowful thoughts!

 

So whatever you’re dealing with, there is always hope!

 
Advertisement

A Thought On Hope

On September 25th, the last Sunday of this month, we will have our last monthly experience at Motion Church (we will start weekly the next week, which really means we start weekly that week… confusing I know) We’re doing a series right now called Motion Is… in which we break down the Mission of Motion.

So far, we’ve talked about Leading, Living and Moving. The next topic is “Being”. During my preparation for the message I found some pretty interesting things about this concept of having our being in Jesus. One part of the definition of esmen (being in Greek) is “to have hope”. I thought that was pretty fascinating. When you put that wording in the context of the scripture that we stole to create our mission statement it makes even more sense.

Acts 17:28- In Him we live and move and HAVE HOPE.

Whatever difficulty you may be facing, there is reason to hope. As bleak as your situation may seem, you have a help in your time of trouble. There really is a light at the end of the tunnel (and it’s not an oncoming train).

As beneficial as that is to us, I think this has some more elements to it. How we respond in hope to our desperate situations could be the answer that those around us need so desperately.

It’s not just that we have hope. It’s also that we are hope. 

I’m certainly not trying to make light of your struggles. But I do know this: God is good and He is for you. So whatever it is in your life that seems hopeless, remember there is always a reason to hope. That reason may be for someone else to have hope.