When I thought of the word hope, a verse from the song In Christ Alone quickly came to mind.
In Christ Alone, my hope is found. He is my light my strength my song. This cornerstone, this solid ground, firm through the fiercest drought and storm. What height of love, what depths of peace. When fears are stilled when strivings cease. My comforter, my all in all. Here in the love of Christ I stand.
This was a song I heard often over the summer and sang as a reminder when I dared to hope that God could make a change. It was a reminder that it was not for me to try to fix the problem that was before me. But my job in this situation was to hold on to hope and believe. When He took that problem from me, I knew that it was not of my own doing, as the solution was not even one I could fathom. But I had hope. How wonderful it is as believers in Christ that we have something to look forward to and to believe.
What does hope mean to me? I am looking for something to happen. I have an excitement and anticipation that something wonderful can happen along with new opportunities.
As a new school year starts, you may hope for a roommate that is compatible, a professor that teaches an “easy” class, a winning team record or successful performances. As professors, we may hope for excited and awake 8:00 a.m. class students. We may hope that students that love our lectures and maybe us, too. We hope everyone has their books on the first day of class. But let us all have a common hope that is in Christ and trust that He will lead us to new discoveries and opportunities in our lives and that we will be open to them in the weeks to come.
So as some of us put away the flip flops, dust off the backpacks and books and find mechanical pencils and pens, my prayer is:
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” –Romans 15:13
Written by Andrea Pope-Smith, Instructor of Sociology
