I hope ...

You know how sometimes you're so stubborn that you have to hear something over and over to get it? You know, you move so fast that you have to sit down a few different times and read similar things to really get the one lesson?

Well, OK, let me stop with you ...

Sometimes I am in too big of a hurry to get it or too stubborn to take the time to let my mind and heart soak up the truth. Maybe you know what I mean.

So that lesson for me is hope.

I say "I hope ..." often. I hope you're having a good day. I hope the meeting went well. I hope I see you soon.

Genuinely, I do hope those things. I do wish those things upon people.

But hope really isn't the right word. I keep thinking about that. Hope is bigger than me wishing wishes on people.

We use the word hope in the English language to express wishful thinking. It leaves plenty of room for doubt and uncertainty. In contrast, biblical writers used hope to express a calm assurance and trust. ... If you want genuine hope, it can be found only in God. Where he is, and when he is involved, anything can happen. ... It's also interesting to note that joy and peace accompany hope in the lives of believers. Confident of God's ultimate victory, we are able to relax, know that the battle is over, and rest in the knowledge that Christ is Lord. Joy and peace prosper in that atmosphere.
--From "How Much Is Enough?" by Larry Burkett with Kay Moore

So while wishing thinking is fine and dandy, and definitely can help in the midst of a bad day, real hope goes beyond that. Real hope is unwavering. Real hope is beyond anything I control.