Holding on to Wild Hope
These days, I hardly recognize myself. After truly seeking God and finding my satisfaction in Him, I feel like a different person. Everything looks different, including me.
What is the most difficult to get used to is this new disposition of faith. I’ve not only taken delight in every good thing that the Lord has blessed me with now, but I also look forward to the completion of His plans in my life. I’m eager, to say the least. It’s as though I’ve become a child on Christmas Eve just counting down the minutes until the morning.
You think I’m kidding? I listen to the same Joel Osteen podcast every morning that boldly declares, “Your Time Is Coming.” I remind myself every day that the Lord is good and gives good gifts to His children ( ). I send my friends ridiculous emails of how blessed this season is. I even have a countdown on my Google homepage set to when I believe God is going to bring my promise into perfect fruition. It’s a far cry from my pessimistic days. In fact, I think the old me would think the new me is off her rocker.
Every once in a while, I get a glimpse of what I must look like to other people, and it causes me to stop and rethink my position. What am I doing? Do I really think God’s going to grant my heart’s desire? I’ve been disappointed so many times before. What makes this time any different?
The faint sounds of hopelessness… it’s a familiar tune. However, God has a new song for me to sing.
This morning I woke up after a weekend of battling an intense cold. Faced with another sick day on the couch watching soaps or going back to work, I gladly chose the comforts of my busy office. When I got there, I turned on my digital music player, which brings me album recommendations. One came up that caught my eye immediately, Wild Hope by Mandy Moore.
It wasn’t so much the artist as the title – “Wild Hope.” It’s strange to think of hope as being wild. I always picture hope as soft and demure. It’s accompanied by flowers in fields of tall grass. Hope isn’t wild, is it?
“But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.”
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NIV
Real hope isn't gentle. It's not shy. It's wild and boisterous. It’s reckless, and it doesn’t care what anyone thinks. It doesn't back down -- especially in the face of circumstances that would indicate otherwise.
Think about Bartimaeus from the 10th chapter of Mark. He was blind and begging on the side of the road. When he heard that Jesus was passing by, he cried out. He wasn’t timid. He didn’t wait for Jesus to notice Him. He wanted his sight, and He knew that Jesus could give it to him.
Hope like this will make a spectacle out of you. Mark chronicles that the people told Bartimaeus to shut up and stop causing a scene. What did Bartimaeus do: “he shouted all the more, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me’” (verse 48, NIV).
Jesus turned and summoned the blind man and asked him what he wanted. Bartimaeus asked for his sight. Jesus said, “Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole” (verse 52), and as simple as that, Bartimaeus could see.
Begging on the side of the road got Bartimeaus just enough money to get by, but his faith gave him the miracle that he longed for. This story illustrates one of the greatest revelations that God ever laid on me: I am inclined to hear your pain. However, I am commanded to respond to your faith. God will stop what He’s doing to answer a prayer that’s full of wild hope. When you have the audacity to take God at His word and believe in spite of what you see, He can’t help but bless you.
This type of hope is so crazy that it's almost embarrassing. However, when we hope like this, God isn’t going to leave us hanging. speaks of a hope that “maketh not ashamed.” It won’t let you down. It pulls through, time and time again.
God promises a hope that won’t disappoint. Like a wild horse, it runs fast and far but hold on tightly. It will take you places that you never imagined.
