The Hope of the Temporal

The hope of the temporal. That almost sounds like a contradiction, doesn’t it? After all, the Christian life emphasizes frequently our eternal hope and our hope for eternity. But recently I realized that I also need the hope of the temporal. After all, the world we live in is obviously broken, full of problems and difficulties. Problems and difficulties and brokenness which I definitely don’t want to last.

So yes, during these troubling times I need hope, but not just any hope. I need the hope that what I am dealing with is temporary, that the situation I’m living in is not forever. I need the hope that people can change and change for the better. I need the hope that my circumstances have a purpose—that they are bring about a change for good in me and in others. I need the hope that what is will not always, because if this is all there is, why keep going?

I need the hope of the temporary.

But even more than that, I need the hope of One strong enough and wise enough to bring about that change. Because I do not know how to change myself nor am I able to change others. I cannot force my circumstances to change nor guarantee those changes will be good or right.

So I need an unchanging God who can change the changeable. A God who softens hard hearts and breaks through stony wills and persuades closed minds. A God who orchestras events to give them mean and purpose, especially those that seem to have no purpose. A God who mends the broken, heals the sick, strengthens the weak, rewards the good, punishes the bad, defends the helpless, avenges the wronged, forgives the repentant, loves the unloveable; who brings light into the darkness, orders the chaos, knows the unknowable, sees the unseen, and does the impossible, creating something from nothing, making all things new, and ultimately restoring all things to the way they ought to be. And such a God I have.

Therefore, I have hope.