What are you hoping for?

A little sneak preview ahead of Sunday... 

When we use the word hope in everyday talk what do we mean? 

I hope to get this job. I hope (s)he likes me. I hope to buy that house. 

Yes, we’re expressing a want...a desire for a preferred outcome for our future. But I think there’s something more going on too. 

I think we’re expressing a hope because we think it will meet a need. 

We hope for the job because it meets a deep need for affirmation or value or security. 

We hope for a relationship because we think we it will meet our need for love. 

We hope for a certain house in a certain area because we think it will meet a need for approval or status. 

We think whatever it is we hope for will meet a need and then we’ll be happy. 

But, honestly, does anything the world offers ever meet our deepest needs. 

I’m not talking momentary pleasure here. I’m talking long-lasting...permanent. 

You get that job and it’s not all you thought it would be. 

You get that partner and you discover you still have an even deeper need for love. 

You move into that house, and then a nicer one comes on the market. 

You eat at that restaurant and you wake up hungry the next morning. 

You get the idea..... 

Nothing ever ultimately satisfies. 

Oh, that we would just admit that. 

C.S. Lewis puts it like this... 

Most people, if they had really learned to look into their 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. 

The prophet Isaiah put it like this... 

Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labour on what does not satisfy? (55:2) 

Truth is, worldly hopes will always disappoint us. 

So what’s the solution? 

Is there a hope that will never disappoint? 

A hope that will never fail? 

A hope that will truly satisfy? 

Well....yes! 

The Psalmist describes the One who satisfies the longing soul...who fills the hungry soul with good things (Psalm 107:9). 

And John records Jesus as declaring this: I am the bread of life. Whoever believes in me will never go hungry and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. (John 6:35) 

Jesus is the One in whom our deepest longings...our deepest hopes...will be satisfied. 

So why not heed Isaiah’s invitation: Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare. (55:2)