The Richland Church of Christ

Hope Against Hope

Ten years ago, I had been on a string of insignificant and fruitless dates. The truth is no one likes to see eligible bachelors or bachelorettes, so they try to fix you up with this person or that person. I’m a personable and outgoing individual, so I would agree to these blind dates to see if there was any hope for a future with that other person. Being single and 28 was not my plan nor my intention; however, we seldom get what we want. Despite setbacks and disruptions, I never gave up on finding someone with whom I could spend my life.

Perseverance takes a type of determination that we seldom discuss. Knowing that you greatly desire something but cannot bring it to fruition takes a special kind of patience and long-suffering; I admire anyone who has patiently waited for any particular outcome in their life.

That is when a young lady I knew from church asked if I wouldn’t mind “helping” her and her husband out. She had a cousin coming to visit from out of town and didn’t want to leave that cousin alone for an evening. So, she asked if I wouldn’t mind tagging along to make the evening less awkward and keep her cousin from being a third wheel. There was one other small problem: the night they were worried about abandoning their visitor was not just any night… it was Valentine’s Day. A day meant for couples, and who in their right mind goes on a blind-double-date on Valentine’s Day? I find very few circumstances awkward, so I said, “Sure.” And I began preparing for another probably insignificant and unrewarding blind date. 

Yet, mixed into this preparation is the idea that perhaps this is someone who is “right” for me. In situations like this, you don’t want to get your hopes up, but you also want to prepare yourself for any opportunities that might arise. It is a delicate balance of hoping and not hoping. You want to put your best foot forward, but you also want to manage expectations for the night. It was nerve-wracking and unsettling; it was a lot like hoping against hope. In this scenario, there was no reason for me to believe that it would turn out any different than it had before. Yet, I still went on that blind date. 

Romans 4:18-22 – “In hope against hope he believed, so that he might become a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken, “SO SHALL YOUR DESCENDANTS BE.” ¹⁹ Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb; ²⁰ yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, ²¹ and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform. ²² Therefore IT WAS ALSO CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.”

I tell this story not because I believe I am in the same prophetic light as Abraham but to demonstrate that we have all been in these circumstances; we have all given up hope at some time or another. Yet, we still hope for the best ending. This is where Abraham was, he was old, and his wife was old… too old… to have children, yet He trusted in God’s promises anyway. This is how God operates. He does not want us to believe in only the probable or the most likely; God wants us to believe and hope in the impossible. God wants us to believe that He raises dead men to new lives. God wants us to expect a future that we can’t comprehend. So, we eagerly await this future not because of our own ability but because of the faithfulness of God.  

Romans 8:22-25 – “For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. ²³ And not only that, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons and daughters, the redemption of our body. ²⁴ For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not see, through perseverance we wait eagerly for it.”

My little story just so happened to end with an incredible ending because, on February 14, 2013, I met my beautiful and amazing wife, Amanda. Ten years later, I am so thankful I had hoped for something better than another meaningless outing. I am grateful that I did not give up. It would have been easier to say “No” or to avoid hoping in the first place. But I can’t imagine my life without having that hope from that evening ten years ago. And isn’t that the point of perseverance? To continue forward with the anticipation that there is something better ahead? We don’t give up. We push forward knowing, like Abraham, that God is faithful to His promises. And so, we Hope Against Hope.