Skip to main content

The Amazing Power of Hope

                For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to go to Cape Canaveral, Florida and visit the “Kennedy Space Center”.  Last week, I got my chance. For an entire day, Sara and I wandered around marvelling over rockets, spacesuits and moon rocks.  It was incredible!
                The amazing thing about the space program is that it was built entirely on hope.  When John F. Kennedy made his famous speech stating that the United States was going to put a man on the moon before the end of the decade, America had put a grand total of one astronaut into space.  In fact, that historic flight by Alan Shepherd was not even an orbital mission.  All he did was go up and come back down.  In other words, NASA had no plans, no hardware and no capability to do what the president said they were going to do.  All they had was the hope that they could do it, but that hope made all the difference.          
                In the beginning, the rockets failed more often than they flew, but they looked at one another and said, “We are going to the moon!”   
                As their understanding and ability increased, they looked at one another and said, “We are going to the moon!”
                Even when a series of huge mistakes took the lives of three astronauts on Apollo 1, the hope of going to the moon moved the program forward and, because of that hope, they did not stop until they reached their goal.
                Hope is powerful!  Hope is fuel that keeps us going.  Hope enables us to dream, plan, think and see possibilities even when our circumstances are less than desirable.  Hope is essential for growth, progress and maturity.  When a feeling of hopelessness creeps in, we are done. 
                Knowing this, it should come as no surprise that the Bible says a great deal about hope.  In one instance, Paul says, “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe” (Ephesians 1:18-19).  If hope sustains us in earthly things, how much more important is a hope that benefits us not only now, but eternally as well?
                Jesus’ death gives us hope and that hope changes everything.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dark and Light

            When you look out at the world, what do you see?             Some see nothing but trouble and pain.   They point to things like poverty, crime, problems with drugs and alcohol and marriage break-ups and say that the world is full of sadness and sorrow.   Watch the news for even a half hour and you will get the idea that the world is a dark place.             Others see nothing but good.   They appreciate generous people in their community.   They think about their friends and neighbours and smile.   They marvel at the beauty of sunrises and stars at night.   To them, the world is a bright and wonderful place.             You may be surprised that the Bible supports both of these world views.   On one hand it says things like, “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the
1 comment
Read more

New Article: Five Words to Improve Your Relationships

                 In the late 1800s, it was common for railway companies to plant formal gardens beside their stations.   These gardens were filled with trees, shrubs, flowers, and fruit trees.   Sometimes they also featured a kitchen garden growing lettuce, carrots, corn, and potatoes.   Estevan’s Canadian Pacific Railway Garden was once located where Mid-City Plumbing and Heating is today.                The purpose of these gardens was to show what the land could produce.   After hours and sometimes days of riding across the featureless prairies, the railways wanted to show settlers the potential of their new home.   The gardens showed what was possible and they encouraged the settlers to transform their own land and discover its potential too.                Today’s verse acts similarly, in that it challenges us to find the potential in
Post a Comment
Read more

Forgetting What Is Behind

                   Generalizations are helpful because they show a pattern that is normally true. However, they are also dangerous because they ignore the exceptions to the rule.                  Here is my generalization:   It is a quality of the strong to be able to forget the past and move on.   The apostle Paul summarizes this idea when he states, “One thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God had called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14). Too often, we trip over things that are behind us.   We remember and nurse old hurts.   We rehearse mistakes that no one else recalls.   In doing so, we pull the past into the present and allow it to dictate how we feel right now.   In these cases, we would be better off “forgett
Post a Comment
Read more