The hope we hold
8 April 2024|Papa God & Denae Roth
I’ve been in a long season of waiting, watching and longing for the promise of community. In this place I have two choices; to hope or to disappear. I was brought to the realization of how powerful hope is after watching the Pilgrim's Progress last weekend. Christian and Hopeful are locked in a cage surrounded by a dreary dungeon and countless skeletons. The giants that guard them rock the stone prison with one footstep. In this moment they feel hopeless. Will this be how their faithfulness to press forward to the Celestial City ends? Here in this gloom? Hopeful looks toward the upperpart of the wall and reads the words Dungeon of Despair. As if a light bulb goes off in his brain he realizes the key to be freed from this despicable place. Hope. Remembering what the giant told them earlier, they rehearse it out loud, “I gave you everything you needed to die but you're still here.” Because you see the giant could not kill them, all the skeletons surrounding them hadn’t been killed by the giant. No! They were killed from despair, killed from loss of hope, looking at their surroundings and giving up. As Christian and Hopeful chose to hope again a key emerged from Christian’s armor. A key to unlock the cage of despair. A key that would lead them into freedom and to the next part of their journey. Hope.
“Three things will last forever; faith, hope and love.” 1 Cor 13:13. All three of these attributes are vital to our journey but I realized we often focus on faith and love but what about hope? Is hope more than just a dream we hold, flimsily “hoping” it will happen? As I was looking into the Hebrew meaning of the word hope I was struck by the analogy. Tikvah means hope but it also means rope. Rahab, in Joshua 2, is helping Joshua and Caleb escape. Thinking quickly she throws a ROPE out of the window. This rope is more than just an escape plan, it’s her hope of safety and protection for her and her family. Hope is more than just a nervous waiting, it is something we can grasp like a rope. “Then you will overflow with confident hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13. Hope is confidence we will see the promised land. Instead of looking at our surroundings and being lost in despair, we look up, fix our eyes on our perfect King, grab the key of hope, unlock the cage of despair and run wild. Confidently, expectantly and joyfully. Because we know the hope we hold.