Today, we are discussing hope, at A Holy Experience.
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Hope.
Not just wishful thinking…but, confident expectation.
Many of you that have read my blog for awhile, or know me in person, realize that I am an avid reader of C.S. Lewis. This man died before I was even born, and yet, there is something in his words, that draws me to him. He had something to say about hope, something that stirs me, with words that I do not think I could improve upon. Will you read them with me?
“Most people, if they had really learned to look into their own hearts, would know that they do want, and want acutely, something that cannot be had in this world. There are all sorts of things in this world that offer to give it to you, but they never quite keep their promise. (Oh friends, I know you also have tasted the disappointments of this life. We are really not all that different, are we?)
“At present we are on the outside… the wrong side of the door. We discern the freshness and purity of morning, but they do not make us fresh and pure. We cannot mingle with the pleasures we see. But all the pages of the New Testament are rustling with the rumor that it will not always be so. Someday, God willing, we shall get “in”… We will put on glory… that greater glory of which Nature is only the first sketch. (Have you ever stood and watched the sunrise and wondered at the beauty of it all?)
We do not want to merely “see” beauty–though, God knows, even that is bounty enough. We want something else which can hardly be put into words–to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it.” C.S Lewis (Don’t we all long for more?)
We were not made for this world. We live here, that is for sure…but, we were created for something better than what this world has to offer. Yes, there are many things in my life that bring me great joy and happiness. I stand in awe of the beauty of nature…and praise the Creator. I love my family and friends and am thankful for their relationships with me. I’ve had some wonderful experiences. So much is nice…
And yet.
I am not completely comfortable here. There is longing…longing for, the more.
I survive in this life I live.
Through deaths, pain, hardships, fright, harsh words, misunderstandings, disappointments, anger, betrayal, lies and hurt. This world is full of discontentment…because this world is broken. And I have not escaped this pain. I am broken in it.
But, I have hope.
Hope, that confident expectation, that there is more.
More than this. More than the lacking. More than the failing health. More than compromise. More than grief.
I was made for more, because HE is more. HE is the great expectation. It is Christ, and He alone, that brings joyful hope to a hurt and dying world.
A world that needs Him.
Individuals that need Him.
1 Peter 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…”
Romans 5:2-5 “Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
Great expectation for what is to come.
- What You Can Look Forward to . . . (harvestworkersdoor.wordpress.com)
- C.S. Lewis (ashleyerin.wordpress.com)
- Quotable Quotes – C.S. Lewis on Divine Omnipotence (basictheology.wordpress.com)
- When Joy Seems Elusive (livingingraceland.wordpress.com)
- C.S. Lewis: August Quote (brighthaven.wordpress.com)
It Just Dawned On Me 