Reflections From Sunday Evening

I continue to think about Eugene Peterson's distinction between "wish" and "hope." Wish reflects our projection of our own wants, desires and needs into the future. Perhaps we extend our "wish list" to God. On the positive side an exercise like this could morph into vision. A wish list committed to God trusts His divine wisdom regarding what happens. On the other hand we could find ourselves spending our time in wishful thinking. That is more of a day dream and time consumer. It will probably not end in great satisfaction. So we should not spend time wishing we would win the lottery and find ourselves really rich. Hope, on the other hand originates with God. Hope is what God etches on the heart of all people. Hope sustains us in difficulty. Hope encourages us daily. Hope creates confidence that God will never forget us. Hope assures us that wherever we go and whatever we encounter God will already be there to meet us. There are great implications for God initiated hope. We know God is with us day by day. We are confident that God will sustain us in and through all seasons of life. We discover an abiding faith that even our ultimate future is secure in the grace of God. Hope. It's been a good day. I HOPE you've had a good day as well. steve