HOPE

In L.A. there is a billboard advertising City of Hope, a premier center for cancer research and care. On that billboard you will find these words, "Where there is hope, there is life." Take a minute and think about that statement. Where there is hope, there is life. That very statement, if true, has huge implications for each and every one of us. For most of us, it should result in a paradigm shift. Take a minute to read what follows and perhaps you will agree.

What is hope? Hope is defined as "the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best." I have to admit, that I can only agree with part of that. Hope is a feeling? Hope goes well beyond just a feeling. I can't be certain about where you stand, but for me, my feelings get the best of me from time to time. My feelings have the tendency to take control (no, I'm not the bleeding heart type, but I do wear my heart on my sleeve). On more occasions than I care to recount, my feelings have have let me down. For these reasons, I would have to define hope as believing events will turn out for the best.

I'm sure you have heard the phrase to "hope beyond hope." To me, that is true hope. I can only say this as one who has seen his hell and just about lost hope. Call me naive, but no matter how unbearable or insurmountable the circumstances get, I want to hope for the best. I've lived much of my life as a pessimist and I have to tell you, this optimism thing is far more enjoyable. I'm not to the point where I can see the good in everyone or in every circumstance; but that is where I, one day, hope to be.

Back to that whole feeling thing. Let me present my case why hope is so much more than a feeling. Hope is what allows some of us to get out bed every morning. Hope is what feeds our dreams. Hope is what fuels our passions. Hope allows us to take the next step. Hope allows us to take risks. Hope gives us the courage to try again. Hope has the ability to heal. Hope keeps us wanting (and waiting). Hope is a commitment. Hope is a way of life. Hope is a necessity. We were not created to live without hope. I would argue that where there is no hope, there is no life.

You need only turn on the news to see what a life void of hope looks like. Genocide. War. Terrorism. Scandal. Financial disaster. Suicide. These things are all the result of a loss of hope--or perhaps hope misplaced. Too often we put our hope in the temporal things of this world. Often we put our hope in money, only to become broke. Some put their hope in health, only to become ill. There are others who put their hope in possessions, only to have them lost. And some of us put our hope in relationships, only to see them broken. What is even more disheartening is how many of us put our hope in religion or church, only for them to return void. At the risk of sounding cliche (and if you read that blog, you know how I feel about that), true hope comes from and can only be found in Christ. That is why Paul, in his first letter to Timothy calls Christ our hope. And Peter boldly tells us that the "mercy of God" and "the resurrection of Christ" allows us to "live with great expectation."

Let me take all of this one step further, sum up everything I wrote, and frustrate you that you had to read through all my ramblings. To live without God is to live without hope. "Why?" you ask. Because if there is no God (I'm talking about the one, true, triune God), then what you see is what you get. And let's be totally honest, if what you see is what you get, that sucks!

WAITING

Waiting! Don't you just love waiting? I know I sure do. I am so good at waiting. I can wait for day, weeks, and even months on end. Really, if I could do just one thing with my life it would have to be waiting. Waiting on the restaurant to bring my food. Waiting for the person parked in front of me at the green light. Waiting for the person checking out ahead of me with 12 items in the 10 items or less lane (yes, I counted them myself and there were 12). Waiting for my paycheck to come every two weeks. Man, I just love to wait. It gives me so much pleasure and joy.

In case you weren't able to tell by reading, that previous paragraph was not dripping, it was sopping wet, with sarcasm. In all honesty, I hate--scratch that, despise--waiting. There are only so many hours in a day and I intend to make the most out of all of them. Waiting is not helping my agenda. Let's not forget the fact that I am an important person and I have important things to do. Life would be much more simple if everyone else just realized this. I am Jordan Davis and everyone should know who I am! To be honest, when I have to wait, sometimes I wonder why everyone hasn't realized this yet.

I'm sure you already figured out this isn't how life works. We have to wait everywhere we go. And I'm probably preaching to the choir (I have never really understood that saying, apparently the choir already knows everything) if I bring up waiting on God. I'm sure you already know is timing isn't always the most optimal for someone who likes to have their ducks in a row. It seems to me he likes to wait until the last minute. There was the time I ran out of money for college and he came through when I started packing to leave. The letter of encouragement when I was ready to call it quits on ministry. The book placed in my hands in the middle of a hurricane of my own making. The roommate when I was on the brink of having to sell my house. Or the much needed phone call from a friend.

Inevitably, when I look back on how events have unfolded and played out in my life, I see things from a totally different perspective. It makes more sense why God didn't give me what I needed or wanted at that exact moment. Now I am able to see what God was doing and how he was working things out. I was constantly asking God when, only to have him respond with the exact same question. And I see, more often than not, it isn't about when God will come through; rather it's about when I will learn to let go, relinquish control, move on, or trust.

For almost 2 years now I have been waiting on certain things to come to fruition. Dreams that God has given me. Desires he has placed in my life. Although it hasn't been easy, nor am I already there, but after 27 years I have begun to trust that God really does know better than me. That he is working things out even while I am waiting. And in the midst of it, I have come to the realization that sometimes I just need to keep moving forward, until I hear otherwise. Because the "silence" of God isn't an excuse for inaction. It's not time for a pity party, but time to take hold of the promise that God "is able to do more than we can hope or imagine." John Waller says it well: "I will move ahead, bold and confident, taking every step in obedience. I will serve you while I'm waiting. I will worship while I'm waiting." One day I hope that rings true of my life.