I've heard a few times now that in Hebrew, the same word is used for both hoping and waiting. It's the same in Spanish, "esperar." This is fascinating to me.
We hope for a better world, and we also wait for a better world. We hope for Jesus to come back to earth, but we also wait for it. My wife hoped for a relationship with me for a long time, and waited 8 years to see it happen.
Hoping for something almost inherently means waiting for it in this sense. It doesn't resonate well with our microwave society. We hope for something we want now, not something we need to wait for.
Perhaps it's in the waiting where God shapes us into who He wants us to become. He promises to fulfill the hopes of His people, but it's always on His timeline and not our own. The Israelites I'm sure hoped for freedom from slavery for 400 years before God delivered them from Pharoah's grip.
Are we willing to wait a lifetime for our hopes to be fulfilled? Are we willing to wait till eternity to see our deepest hopes and desires fulfilled? How counter cultural is that?
That's not to excuse inaction. If we hope for the Great Commission to be fulfilled, we needn't wait for someone else to take the initiative. At the same time, we realize we may be waiting a lifetime of sharing the gospel and even longer to see that hope fulfilled.
Hope gives us a purpose to live for, something larger than ourselves. We have our hope in Christ, and so we wait for His return. We wait and hope with baited breath, knowing He will restore all things to how they're supposed to be. We long for renewal as individuals, families, communities and countries. While we wait for renewal, we also work. Working is part of the waiting. Otherwise you just get bored and don't contribute anything to the Great Commission or other worthy callings.
What are you hoping and waiting for?
We hope for a better world, and we also wait for a better world. We hope for Jesus to come back to earth, but we also wait for it. My wife hoped for a relationship with me for a long time, and waited 8 years to see it happen.
Hoping for something almost inherently means waiting for it in this sense. It doesn't resonate well with our microwave society. We hope for something we want now, not something we need to wait for.
Perhaps it's in the waiting where God shapes us into who He wants us to become. He promises to fulfill the hopes of His people, but it's always on His timeline and not our own. The Israelites I'm sure hoped for freedom from slavery for 400 years before God delivered them from Pharoah's grip.
Are we willing to wait a lifetime for our hopes to be fulfilled? Are we willing to wait till eternity to see our deepest hopes and desires fulfilled? How counter cultural is that?
That's not to excuse inaction. If we hope for the Great Commission to be fulfilled, we needn't wait for someone else to take the initiative. At the same time, we realize we may be waiting a lifetime of sharing the gospel and even longer to see that hope fulfilled.
Hope gives us a purpose to live for, something larger than ourselves. We have our hope in Christ, and so we wait for His return. We wait and hope with baited breath, knowing He will restore all things to how they're supposed to be. We long for renewal as individuals, families, communities and countries. While we wait for renewal, we also work. Working is part of the waiting. Otherwise you just get bored and don't contribute anything to the Great Commission or other worthy callings.
What are you hoping and waiting for?
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