Hope and Faith

Recently I started reading the children’s book A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle.  The book is about a family who is missing their father and know one knows exactly where is or what he is doing, but they have hope that he is coming home soon.  The family encounters three mythical creatures and they take the two oldest siblings along with a friend to go save their father.  The mythical creatures are often quoting different proverbs in the original language.  One of the proverbs is about hope and how we all need it and have it get through life.  In essence, we all need something to believe in. 

            Not only does Hebrews 11 talk about hope, but it talks about faith, and in all reality faith is the mature aspect of hope.  Let me break it down, in my book there are two kinds of hope, the first kind of hope where we believe in something, but it doesn’t lead to action.  To put it in simple terms, this form of hope is thinking that your team is going to go out and win it all.  There are plenty of people who think that the Vikings are going to win the Super Bowl every year, but how many of them go out and buy the Super Bowl tickets or make plans to attend the victory parade at the beginning of the year.  My guess is that there are more people who don’t do that than who do.  Or to put it in more practical terms.  How many of us went out and bought supplies before our last major snow this month.  I would venture to guess most of us went out and got the milk, bread and snow melt before the snow got here.  With working at Wal Mart, we were busy they two days before we got hit with the snow, and our shelves were bare.  Now I am sure some of it was the chicken little the sky is falling, but people wanted to make sure they had food and other things before the snow got here.  If we do this, why don’t we do it with the Creator of the Universe who sits on the throne eternally.   

            As Hebrews 11:1 puts it, now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.  The author of Hebrews goes on and shares Bible hall of fame, or the hall of faith, of how different people through out the Bible had the faith and they put into practice what they knew.  Mature faith is knowing that we are not saved by our works, but we live out our lives as a response to what God has done for us and what He has promised us.  Through out the Bible there are references to God being there for us and guiding us through life.  To sum it up, God is reaching down willing and wanting to interact with us and through us, are we willing to reach out and do those things out of not only obedience, but having faith and hope that God will be there for us and will work through us.