Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God. Psalm 42:11
In the past, I blogged on faith and love, letting you know these two items aren't feelings. Instead they're exhibited in our actions. So what about hope? I've been wondering lately if hope might also be an action rather than a feeling.
These three fruits of the spirit seem so closely intertwined. It's impossible to have love without the faith that if you act on love instead of waiting for the feeling, you'll do a lot more good to those who need it in this world. Faith would be empty without the love that inspires us to act on our faith.
Is hope alone of these three dependent on feelings? Paul said it's one of the three greatest of the fruits of the Holy Spirit.
I guess it could be said that depression is caused by a lack of hope. Or maybe that's a symptom of depression. I need to call my daughter and ask, seeing as how she's studying psychology in college.
Okay, so I called her (this made a good excuse), and she says it's both. A feeling of hopelessness over something specific can feed a depression, and depression causes more hopelessness. It's a catch 22. Without hope, you fall into depression. With depression (which can be a chemical thing in the brain), you feel hopeless. Death is desirable.
Bottom line is that hope is so very, very important to us--so how do we get it when it seems so far out of reach?
Faith--or belief, whichever you prefer--is evidenced by action. I wonder if acting on our hopes can do the same thing. For instance, if you hope you'll get this great new job but don't submit any applications, what happens? The employer doesn't even know you exist.
I say my hope is in God. How can I exhibit that? And what does it mean, exactly? Well--I believe with all my heart and soul that God is. That He's been there since before the beginning and will be there past the end, if there is one. I believe that Jesus was born of a virgin, died on a cross, and was resurrected to everlasting life, and I believe that one day I'll be with Him in heaven. But that's belief.
You can't tell me to hope and have it happen. Hope seems to be an inner reaction to faith in God, so maybe it's an act of the will and voice. If I repeat to myself often enough that my hope is in God, will it sink down into my heart? At the risk of being accusing of punning, I hope so.
My hope in God is that one day I'll see my husband again, and my mom and grandmas and a huge bunch of friends. I hope that because each of them also hoped in God.
Is it beginning to make sense? Belief (or faith) is an action. So is love. And if I have belief in God because I love Him, I can also have hope. And I can hope that you, too, will find hope has entered your own heart.
So which is Hope? A feeling or an action? Maybe it's both.
Father, I love You and I believe in You. I ask that You would encourage my friends who are reading this and nudge them with Your love like You have so often with me. Thank You for being my Provider, my Help in times of trouble, my Strength in times of weakness, and thank You especially for being The Way, The Truth, and The Life. In Jesus's name, Amen
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