“Hope is the oxygen of the soul. . . . If you go without hope for very long, you die. This life is not all there is. If we think it is, we eventually lose hope, but if we anchor our soul in eternity and cling to God’s promises, we receive grace and perseverance to keep going.”- Chip Ingram
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”- Hebrews 1:1 (KJV)
As Chip Ingram moves on in Chapter 5 of I Choose Joy, he presents the fourth lesson that proves most helpful in challenging situations.
4. Only an eternal perspective can produce peace and joy when you’re facing death. First, Chip pauses to ask some very probing but important questions. So, he asks, how do you:
- choose joy when life is crashing in on you?
- stay grounded in your purpose when it looks like your purpose on earth may come to an end?
- live in confidence when you wonder whether you or a loved one will live or die?
The answer, Chip suggests, is simple, yet profound. Certainly, it’s not easy. You need to have an eternal perspective. Above all, we find that perspective rooted in one word: hope.
Of course, Chip observes, we use the word hope to mean many things. For example, we hope to land a good job or that our team (go Blackhawks!!) wins the big game. However, no guarantee exists in either of those scenarios.
Because when we use hope in that sense, we’re really talking about desires and wishes. While we don’t know if things will work out, we hope they do.
Therefore, we must understand how the Bible talks about hope. Biblical hope doesn’t refer to things that may or may not work out. Instead, the Bible presents hope as a certainty. A guarantee of something yet unseen. Thus, Chip stresses, “Biblical hope is about looking forward not to possibilities, but to certainties.”
Today’s question: How do you see hope as the oxygen of the soul? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “A shot in the dark – prayer?