I've been pondering a lot of big thoughts lately. And I haven't hurt myself yet, so I think it is safe.
If part of my purpose is to grow faith, to learn to hope, then I must guard against the enemies of hope.
It is so easy to talk yourself out of anything that requires investment. Investment of time, energy, money. But most of all hope. Hope is the currency that we all find ourselves short on in the face of discouragement or difficulty. You have to continuously grow hope. Foster hope. You can't bank it for a rainy day. You have to spend it--the more thoroughly the better. It can't be hoarded away. It won't survive being locked up or kept safe. It must be thrown upon the waters. It thrives on danger and wastes away when guarded.
Hebrews 11:1-3 says,
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.
That's the thing. God wants us to live with hope. To grow in faith. It is the currency of heaven. The very nature of spiritual things. God himself called the world into being out of nothing. There was no hint of creation before He brought it into being. It came from no visible glimmer, no former pattern. And when we dream, when we hope and have faith, we must learn to not look around for the obvious. The low rumble that warns the train is coming, the flash of light around the bend in the tunnel. NO! We have to believe things that we can't see. We are called to step into a dark tunnel in hope, trusting the One who tells us that though it is never SAFE to hope, it is what we were made to do.
We, like Eve, are tempted to take the path of knowledge. We want to know things. To gather information and then, be our own god by deciding how to proceed. But God invites us instead to live by faith. It is not that we aren't to use our brains, or to be wise...but how much more heavily do we rely on what is seen over what is unseen? I don't need training to follow my brain, but I very much need practice in living by faith.
Even something as simple as eating sensibly requires faith and hope, built upon a bedrock of truth. Though faith is the assurance of things not seen, it is also built on Truth. When my assumptions are lies, then hope is built on a sandy foundation. I must build my hope on truth...and more specifically the very Truth, Jesus Christ.
So it is wisdom I seek more than knowledge. Truth. And after I have discovered truth, I am required to build my hope on that truth. To disregard temptations to abandon the truth, to resist the discouragement that teaches me to cease hoping.
Ultimately my goal is heaven, but right now, I must live this life here on the earth. And for some reason, God knows that I need to learn faith, hope and love. I can't even please him without Faith, so, it is best to get busy!
So today I will practice hope. I will hope that by consistent, daily healthy choices, my body will respond in time. Even though I am seeing no sign of it happening yet. The scale is stubborn--I waver after almost two weeks with between 1 and 2 pounds loss, and I am tempted to ditch the whole thing. But I am choosing hope today. I know...the truth is I have made big changes in my diet and exercise. I must foster hope that those changes will bear fruit in time. In spite of the evidence not seen. I must also be grounded in unvarnished truth. It won't do to let lies come in and undermine my hope. I must ferret out the lies and faulty beliefs before my hope is built on a sure thing.
