I watched a TV show last night with a sequence where two supernatural beings had a battle of wits. Each would name a person, animal, or thing and the other would have to name something greater and more powerful that would destroy the previously named subject until there was something that couldn’t be destroyed. The final winning play was that one of the beings said hope with the intention that nothing could destroy hope.
I enjoyed this sequence because the writers had set up that the two beings weren’t equally matched, one of far more powerful than the other. Yet, the weaker being won using hope. I like the idea because it really fits into my idea of what I believe about faith and hope myself. Things like faith and hope don’t require me to be strong and powerful. The world can be full of evil, with tyrants who have all the power and money, and it really won’t make a difference to me at all. The reason is that faith and hope don’t rely on money and power. They rely on God’s love and grace. If I believe in God’s love for me and that He gives me His Grace, then through faith, God with give me strength and courage to have hope through just about anything. I don’t need to be anything more than what I am and if I am not strong or brave or whatever else, I know that I can rely on God for whatever I need. That’s what faith is.
I have often said that the pursuit of earthly desire is just pointless to me because no matter what I do, I will never have enough. If I want power, no matter how much I get, I will still want more. If I want money, no matter how much I get, I will still want more. If I want food, no matter how much I want, I will still want more. Nothing will ever satisfy my earthly body. Yet, if I surrender myself to my God, then I will never want for anything ever again because God will provide everything I need. It’s scary to believe it, but I know that it’s true and it’s my faith.
My faith saved me. May God’s peace reside in all of our hearts.
