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Participating in an Eternal Hope

The hope we have in Christ is one that often feels far off. Impossible, even. But that’s because it’s hope for something outside of this world, and outside of our own small experiences. It’s an eternal hope: that all brokenness will be healed, that the ruined cities will be restored, and that all people will sing the praise of our deeply loving, gracious God.

The eternal hope we have in Christ is something that has already begun to arrive, and we each get small glimpses of it. It’s like the story of the three blind men who stumbled upon an elephant and tried to describe it. “It’s like a huge tree!” said the blind man who touched the elephant’s leg. “No, it’s barely more than a reed of grass!” said the one feeling the elephant’s tail. “No, it’s like a snake!” said the one with his hands on the elephant’s trunk.

In the same way, all of us in the Body of Christ experience different aspects of God’s promises coming true as we wait for it to be fully revealed in glory. God promised Abraham would be the father of a great nation, but he only had one son. God led Moses to the Promised Land, but Moses only saw it from a nearby mountain top.

God told the prophets about Jesus over 400 years before He showed up. And the promises of God are still coming true. A friend is delivered from addiction. An estranged family member is welcomed home in grace and forgiveness. A child is born to a couple who waited and prayed through tears for her healthy arrival. In the middle of struggle and suffering, tremendous spiritual growth happens.

Perhaps you don’t feel like you see any hope in your life right now. In those days when the realization of our hope seems small, we rest in the cloud of witnesses—the church. The smallest victories of our brothers and sisters throughout history and across the nations are all stories that encourage us to press on in faith. We rejoice with those who rejoice, for the great victory of God has come and is still coming.

Your story, your neighbor’s story, your family’s story, our church’s stories need to be told. Don’t keep those praises to yourself! For they sing the arrival of our future hope’s fulfillment.