The Insanity of Hope

It’s dry season in Brasília. It finally rained this week after 90 days without precipitation. The funny thing is that several trees were in full bloom a week before any sign of moisture. This always amazes me because the trees seem to know the rain is on the way and bloom simply on the basis of hope.

The Bible tells us that Abraham was a hundred years old when he had a son and that he had “hoped against hope” for Isaac (Rom 4:18). In fact, there are many places in the Bible where hope seemed pointless, but God gave courage and faith to His people and they pressed on. G.K. Chesterton famously quipped that “exactly at the instant when hope ceases to be reasonable, it begins to be useful.”

Christians who put their faith in God and in His word are “hopers.” The world appears to be disintegrating around us and yet we know that God is on His throne and that he laughs at those who are in power. (Ps 2:1-3) Our faith is not in any political system or in any leader, but in Christ Jesus alone. That is why we can bloom and flourish no matter how disagreeable the world’s climate is toward us. As Chesterton wrote, “The virtue of hope exists only in earthquake and eclipse.  For practical purposes it is at the hopeless moment that we require the hopeful man.” Because of Jesus we should be the most hopeful of all God’s creatures.

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