For good or bad, I'm going to share something of myself with you. I have to tell you right up front that I am not that deep when it comes to studious intellectual things. Not that I can't study things out when it's called for, but I'm more of an easy going guy who enjoys being laid back. Any day of the week, I would much rather read Lord of the Rings or Star Wars than some book on religious philosophy. Though obviously from my chosen vocation you can figure out that religion, philosophy, and the such-like are important to me. However, I do enjoy other less deep things, too.

Having said that, one of my readers sent me a quote from Victor Hugo that got me to thinkin' and studyin' on something. Hugo wrote, "Hope is the word which God has written on the brow of every man." Man, doesn't that have the feel of deep religious philosophy to it? Not only does it sound deep, it also has the ring of truth to it because it is based upon the teachings we find in God's word.

Can't you hear the words ring out in a deep vibrating baritone voice, "HOPE IS THE WORD WHICH GOD HAS WRITTEN ON THE BROW OF EVERY MAN!"

It's true isn't it? I mean, which of us can go on for another day without some kind of hope? It is in our very nature to have hope — perhaps our genetic make up given to us by the Creator to "live in hope."

We hope for a better tomorrow.
We hope for a better life.
We hope for a raise at work.
We hope for that special person to notice us.
We hope for world peace and the end to all wars and killing.

Hoping means that we think (maybe somewhere deep down inside of us) that these things will happen. That's what gives us the motivation to go on day after day. Even at times when things look less hopeful, we still have that small spark of belief on which to hang our hopes.

"We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God."
The apostle Paul shares these wonderful words of hope with us in 2 Corinthians 4:8-10 for times when we feel beaten down. He says, "We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed and broken. We are perplexed, but we don't give up and quit. We are hunted down, but God never abandons us. We get knocked down, but we get up again and keep going. Through suffering, these bodies of ours constantly share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies."

Paul also wrote in Romans 5:1-5, "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us."

I know that sometimes life gets tough for us. It is sometimes very difficult to see how we can possibly go on — that we almost reach the end of our hope. But if our hope is in God, the work of Jesus, and the power of the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts, this hope will never disappoint us.