Hope

“The hope of the righteous shall be gladness: but the expectation of the wicked shall perish.” (Pr 10:28 AV)

A few definitions here might help.  Many writers exchange expectations for hope.  Not that hope is wrong.  God knew what He was doing when He gave us His word.  Hope is the right word.  Hope, however, has several meanings.  The expectation is simply the definition of the word hope.  And the expectation is something that we see as certain in the future.  Gladness is glee, mirth, gaiety, and pleasure.  In the sense above, gladness would be the outward manifestation of hope.  That is, if we have hope, it will, by nature, appear as glee, mirth, gaiety, and pleasure.  Lastly, the phrase ‘shall be’ is a continuing state into the future.  The tense is not only future tense, but it continues to be future tense as long as the object which results in gladness exists.  In our case, it is the LORD Jesus Christ.  Here is our takeaway.  If we do not lose hope, then gladness is the continuing state of our minds and hearts.  If we lose hope, then gladness disappears.  Since our hope is always in Christ and our eternal abode with Him, our gladness should never cease.  This is true in theory.  But the reality is, life can bring bumps along the way that seem to rob us of that hope.  This should not be for the child of God.

We have a lot to look forward to.  We really do.  This world is temporary.  According to Peter, there is coming a day when the LORD will consume all of creation in fervent heat.  The LORD will recreate our material world in holiness and righteousness.  Eternity will be a place wherein righteousness dwells.  There will be no more pain, sorrow, or death.  There will be no more sin, rebellion, or devil.  Eternity is our expectation and it will be here much sooner than we think.  As someone who has served in ministry for almost forty years and has seen a great deal, I can tell you time goes by infinitely faster than we imagine.  Before you know it, you are looking at retirement.  You have raised your children and now they are on their own, raising your grandchildren.  You wonder where all that time went.  It seemed like just yesterday when my kids were playing high school basketball together.  It seems but a few short years ago when they were practicing their Awana verses.  Where did all the time go?  With each passing year, we get all that much closer to perfection.  With each passing year, the finish line is that much more in focus.

I guess it is much easier for older people to live with hope and joy.  The end of their pilgrimage is far closer than the beginning of it.  I used to host a luncheon for the widows and widowers.  They are great!  They lived long and hard.  But one thing they have is a view toward eternity that few can understand.  Sure, they may talk often about their current ailments.  But only in the context of them being over sooner than later.  They talk of their aches and pains, not in the voice of misery, but rather, humor as the method of coping.  If you ever get to a place where you think you can endure no longer, just have lunch with a bunch of octogenarians who love the LORD.  That will give you optimism that comes from no other.  They are great!  Why?  Because their eyes are somewhere else.  Their hope is closer than it has ever been before.  This is why they can laugh at a bum knee, missing teeth, and more parts missing than they have retained.  They can talk of the great depression or a world war in terms that make it all seem romantic.  They have learned the closer to eternity we get, the more these things in life are not catastrophic.  They can and will have gladness because there is always hope!  Hope is something the devil cannot take.  It is something we always have available.  It all matters upon what our eyes settle.

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