“Now may God, the inspiration and fountain of hope, fill you to overflowing with uncontainable joy and perfect peace as you trust in him. And may the power of the Holy Spirit continually surround your life with his super-abundance until you radiate with hope!” Romans 15:13 TPT

Recently, as I was making dinner, my kids called my husband and I outside to witness one of the brightest and biggest rainbows I have ever seen. It was a sweet moment in a week filled with chaos with the eventual beginning of the school year and violence and destruction in our world. When I saw this rainbow, I was immediately filled with awe and wonder and most importantly, hope.

Rainbows are a symbol of hope in many cultures. Hope is an optimistic state of mind that is based on an expectation of positive outcomes with respect to events and circumstances in one’s life or the world at large. As a verb, its definitions include: to “expect with confidence” and “to cherish a desire with anticipation.”

Notice that hope has its roots in waiting. It involves trusting that there is something more than we can see, feel or touch. Waiting is hard and trusting might be even harder. How do we cling to hope without becoming restless? How do we keep uncertainty from overtaking us? Scripture says, “For now, we can only see a dim and blurry picture of things, as when we stare into polished metal. I realize that everything I know is only part of the big picture. But one day, when Jesus arrives, we will see clearly, face-to-face. In that day, I will fully know God.” 1 Corinthians 13:12 (The Voice)

Friends, I know that life and the world feel heavy. I feel the tension in my own lived experience. When I intentionally seek God in my life, I find freedom in the truth that I was not created to save the world but to work where He has me and trust that He is making all things new. Truth has a fluidity to it. It can show up boldly and courageously or it can show up in a gentle way. Deborah Adele says, “The fluidity of truth requires that we clean our lens, and periodically get new glasses with which to observe the world. Our seeing is limited by all the groups that shape us, as well as by our experience. What we believe, whether we are aware of that belief or not, informs everything we do and every choice we make. To be a bold person of truth is to constantly look for what we are not seeing and to expose ourselves to different views than the ones we hold sacred. As Yogiraj Achala reminds us, ‘What are you not seeing because you are seeing what you are seeing?'” What might our lives look like if we found our hope in the truth of God’s word in every single moment of our lives?

Friends, you were not created to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders. When we surrender our hope and desires to God, it leaves us free to be the hands and feet of Jesus, to love ourselves and our neighbor as we have been instructed to do. God is who He says He is and He will do what He said He was going to do.