Ken Turner looks at the nature of hope

Ken Turner

These were the words so often repeated by Barak Obama during his election campaign for the Presidency of the USA. Even since his election I have heard this phrase repeated by a number of public figures, applying it to their situation. This is probably because Obama's phrase expresses hope. Is there any human emotion that runs as deep as hope? Even the universal "Fairy Tale" stories that are passed down to successive generations, express hope. Hope that in the end the struggle or lack or violence will be overcome and success will come. All this by the wave of a magic wand by our fairy godmother, and we will all live "happily ever after".

What are your hopes? Do you have specific hopes? Many don't, they just take life as it comes. They are basically reactive to what life throws at them and have no specific hope towards which they are working. Others do have specific hopes and are proactive in trying to realise them. Some have failed to reach where they were heading and are deeply disappointed and some have arrived but are disillusioned by what they see. That which held so much promise has turned sour because reality looks very different to their dream.

Then there are those whose hopes have turned into a very satisfying reality. Surely this is the goal of all who hope? So it would seem very valuable to discover the elements of this process of hope turned into satisfying reality.

Personally, I think the best place to start this quest is with the truth that states that GOD is interested in our future, interested to the degree that He has made plans for your life and has already released power for these plans to become reality. "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

In my quest to move into the outworking of this promise, the first thing I found out was that God's plans are often very different in nature to my own. I had firmly fixed in my mind, that when my hopes were realised, I would be the major beneficiary, even if this unfortunately meant that others would lose out in the process. God, however, is interested in everyone prospering in the process. His dictum is that He has "blessed me to be a blessing to others". As I allow this to happen, He in turn responds and gives me greater prosperity to be able to share more with others.

This has came as a blow to me, because the increase of my reputation, finances and general importance defined the fulfilment of my hopes. Others profiting from my success, either directly or as a by product, didn't figure at all. I saw parents, work colleagues and friends as donors to my prosperity, not beneficiaries.

I learnt from this that my hopes had attached to them a value system. I couldn't have written my values down at first, but they were there nevertheless. My value system was very self-centred and consequently so were my actions. These actions were in sharp contrast to God's unselfish, all inclusive value system.

Following God's plans often means making paradigm shifts and having difficulties to work through. Mary was approached by the angel Gabriel and told God wanted her to be the mother of Jesus the Messiah. The negative part of this was that she would be seen as an unwed mother and therefore lose the respect of family and friends and be ostracised by the community. Even worse she would probably lose her fiancée Joseph. Despite this she tells Gabriel that she will do as God asks.

What makes people say yes to difficult requests like this? As a family we have faced a few of these paradigm shift come difficult situations in the past. The strange thing is, the moment you take a decision and say "yes" to God there is a peace that comes into your life and even an excitement as to what lies ahead, despite the difficulties. This peace and excitement is God's response to our humble "yes".

This insight led to the maturing of our hopes. We understood that others being blessed through our blessing was the route to the right outcomes to our hopes. We also found that the God who had plans to prosper us would never answer any prayer that would increase our pride. If our pride increased we would have less and less need of Him and as a consequence move closer and closer to disillusionment.

2009 brings with it significant challenges to many people. Economic crisis, retrenchment and unemployment, etc. For others it represents a new start. Whatever your situation it's a good time to draw aside and define your hopes. We all need hope to survive. While you do this, try to discover what value system motivates you. [I hope my story above will give you a start.]

As you do, look at God's promise I outlined above. You will find it in the Bible in the book of Jeremiah, chapter 29, verse 11. Then ask God to speak to you as you reflect on this verse. If you ask, He will. If you have never done this before it will be the start of a new adventure and 2009 could be a landmark year for you.