Waiting with Hope

Dear Friends,

In the aftermath of Hurricane Ida, I thought this excerpt from the book From Recovery to Restoration:60 Meditations for Finding Peace & Hope in Crisis would encourage hearts today. Please share it with someone you know who needs it. Also, be sure to sign up for the chance to win free books every week in September as we celebrate the one-year birthday of From Recovery to Restoration. 

Waiting with Hope

We too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. Romans 8:23b, ESV

Waiting for hours to buy gas after a hurricane.

Waiting for weeks for workmen’s compensation to authorize a surgery.

Waiting for months to recover from a heart attack.

Waiting for years to have one happy day after the death of a child. 

Whenever our stories are shattered by crisis, a season of waiting will likely follow. Waiting can be irritating at a long pharmacy drive-thru line, but in the profound losses of a crisis, it can be agonizing. What does it look like to wait with hope as we grieve our losses?

First we must recognize the difference between earthly hope and biblical hope. Earthly hope focuses on good outcomes in the here and now, or at least the near future. There is nothing wrong with such hope—hoping that the surgery is approved and that the recovery goes smoothly, hoping that the betrayal will sting less tomorrow than it does today. And yet, earthly hope is often limited by our own short-sightedness, our inability to see everything our all-seeing God sees. To all earthly hope, we need to add biblical hope.

Biblical hope, as defined by Dan Allender and Tremper Longman is a “vision of redemption in the midst of decay.” Biblical hope is based on faith, on remembering how God has rescued in the past: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1 ESV). Biblical hope focuses on the end of the story, the day when Jesus will return and restore all broken things (Romans 8:18-19). In that day, we will be restored to our Father as his adopted children, and all of creation’s groaning will end in fruitful labor, Christ’s perfected new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). 

When we wait with biblical hope, we will continue to pray for God’s good gifts on this earth: gas to fuel generators after a hurricane, a sweet memory on a loved one’s death day. Biblical hope leads us to pray, “God, if I don’t get the gas today, help me be patient and trust your provision,” or “If I am sad all day long, be near to me in my grief.” When our earthly hopes are disappointed, biblical hope compels us to look and lean toward the final day when “all things work together for good” in the lives of those who trust God for life and salvation (Romans 8:28). 

Dear friends, when the wait feels excruciating, remember that you have evidence that your deepest hopes will not go unfulfilled: Christ has already come to rescue and redeem. Remember what you are waiting for—glory itself!  Knowing this, keep hoping with an active imagination, leaning into the future, leaning into God’s loving purposes in our hardest waits.

Prayer

Lord,

How long? This is our cry as we wait in impossibly long lines or for seemingly improbable recoveries. Draw our eyes to the horizon, to see Jesus “coming soon” to end our grievous wait. In Jesus’ already-redeeming name. Amen.

Further Encouragement

Read Romans 8:18-30. 

Listen to “Spring Is Coming” by Steven Curtis Chapman.

For Reflection

How has waiting felt for you in this crisis? What earthly hopes have been disappointed? How might remembering the end of the biblical Story help you wait with patience?