The three sisters: Hope

I read something fascinating about hope. Hope is regarded by some as one of three sisters, the older sisters being Faith and Love. Raniero Cantalamessa wrote, “They are like three sisters. Two of them are grown and the other is a small child. They go forward together hand in hand with the child hope in the middle. Looking at them it would seem that the bigger ones are pulling the child, but it is the other way around; it is the little girl who is pulling the two bigger ones. It is hope that pulls faith and love. Without hope everything would stop”, Life in Christ, (Liturgical Press, 2002 p81).

Now, I could write all sorts of things about hope but that quote to me opened my eyes to what hope really is to the believer. Without hope we will eventually lose our faith in God and without God how will we know how to love? Hope is the driving force that gets us out of bed each day in the middle of a storm thinking, “Today could be the day God turns this messy situation around for me”. Hope gives us reason to believe that things will not remain as they are today, instead or latter days shall be better than the past. Hope is the reason why we stand in the midst of the storm and smile because we know we will see the sun shine again. Hope is the reason why we have peace when all hell is breaking loose around us. Hope is the anchor for our soul. For as long as we stay planted in God and remain prisoners of hope, God will give us double for our trouble, (see Zechariah 9:12).

Hope is a beautiful thing. Not to be mistaken with faith, hope is necessary for our lives in Christ. This is my prayer for you this week, Romans 15:13, “I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit”.

Have a blessed week.