Hope

There is an old hymn of the church that says:  "My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness."  Hope is the very essence of advent.  I think that we tend to lump hope in the same category as a desire.  Ironically the Spanish verb esperar means both to wait for and to hope.  But it is frequently used as to wait.  In this 21st century age of technology, the act of waiting for something is old news.  Let's see there's instant messenger, fast food, instant grits, and the list goes on. 

I want what I want, and I want it now!  We are so accustomed to instant gratification, when the time comes for us to wait for something, even if for a day, we become very impatient and mad at the universe.  Some of us actually think that God may have abandoned us, as we wait.  There is something magical about waiting for something.  Think about it.  If you got everything you want, when you wanted it; it is highly probable that you would not value it, or possibly even take it for granted.  As we go about the inconvenient business of waiting in lines, being put on hold while on the phone, a medical prognosis, remember to lean on the Rock of your Salvation. 

The good news is, God will strengthen you while you wait.  Sometimes the best things in our lives come to us, because we had to wait for them, to prove that they could be entrusted to us.  What is your hope built on?  Is it built on the fact that you want what you want, and you want it right now?  Or maybe it is built on the delayed but not denied concept?  "On Christ the solid Rock I stand!  All other ground is sinking sand."

Peace,
Karsten