Define Hope

Can you come up with a strong definition of the word "hope"? 

Wikipedia says: 

Hope is the state which promotes the belief in good outcomes related to events and circumstances in one's life. Despair is often regarded as the opposite of hope.^[1] Hope is the "feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best" or the act of "look[ing] forward to something with desire and reasonable confidence" or "feel[ing] that something desired may happen".^[2] Other definitions are "to cherish a desire with anticipation"; "to desire with expectation of obtainment"; or "to expect with confidence".^[3]

The Bible says: 

1 Peter 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

Zephaniah 3:17 The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.

Hebrews 11:1  Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.


CS Lewis says: 

“Most people, if they had really learned to look into their own hearts, would know that they do want, and want acutely, something that cannot be had in this world. There are all sorts of things in this world that offer to give it to you, but they never quite keep their promise.

“At present we are on the outside… the wrong side of the door. We discern the freshness and purity of morning, but they do not make us fresh and pure. We cannot mingle with the pleasures we see. But all the pages of the New Testament are rustling with the rumor that it will not always be so. Someday, God willing, we shall get “in”… We will put on glory… that greater glory of which Nature is only the first sketch.

We do not want to merely “see” beauty–though, God knows, even that is bounty enough. We want something else which can hardly be put into words–to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it."

Why is hope so hard to wrap our heads around?

Because so often we want to use the word "so" at the end of "hope". As in, "I hope so..." Hope is based on a future that is not seen and we have no control over it. But it is as C.S. Lewis puts it, "fresh and pure" due to the untainted nature of our desires not yet being dashed by the world. 

I started pinning several images from pinterest that gave me great visuals of "hope" as I run for Inheritance of Hope that I want to keep in mind. There are families, kids, parents, those with a terminal illness that are living in fear for the future, not the reality that hope has been sealed up in Christ. We are on the outside, the "wrong side of the door" like Lewis says. It is so hard to see the new reality that is being created for us. 

When I'm running, I want hope to make me glad. I want it to make me patient. When I get in trouble, I want hope to help me to never stop praying.

I run for hope. 

It's so hard to wrap your head around it. 

I want it to be said when people see me running they see hope! 

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