For a Thriving Hope

So here goes part two of Shattered Dreams by Larry Crabb, that goes off of my last post.

We must identify a hope that has the power to do something truly wonderful when the dark night descends and we see nothing but pain and dissappointment in this life, a hope that does exactly the same thing when the sky is sunny.

But what is it? Does such hope exist? Heaven, of course, is out ultimate hope. Being with Jesus whill make all our dreams come true. That's foundational. Without that hope, there is no other. Without heaven as our final hope, Christianity offers nothing, except perhaps a good ethic to follow. The whole thing becomes a sham, and whether we're rich or poor, all efforts to live a Christian life should cease. If we're to die tomorrow, better to eat, drink. and be merry today.

But with the hope of heaven as our bedrock, living a Christian life makes sense. Self-protection is both morally wrong and practically foolish. But why? Is the only point of living the reward we'll recieve in heaven? Is there anything we can hope for now, anything we can count on God to do for us in this life? That's the question. And it's not a selfish one, it's a humble one, a question admits we're dependent children in the next of receiving what we long for but do not have. Our souls need filling.

We suffer now; what then are those better hopes that makes us welcome suffering? We learn that dreams for good things may shatter, but our pain will always have a purpose. It will stir an appetite for a higher purpose- the better hope of knowing God well enough now to love Him above everything else... and trusting Him no natter what happens.

The best hope, our highest dream of being, in His presence where nothing ever goes wrong and where we fully enjoy Him more than every other blessing, will not be granted til the next life.

We will not suffer in heaven. Every imaginable dream, everything from good parking spaces to good health, will come true. Pain will have no purpose then, so it will not be allowed. Our appetites will be straightened out. We will not desire the good above the best.

For now, we will still have such a hard time realizing that what's good is not always best, suffering still has a function. As nothing else can, it moves us away from demanding what's good...toward desiring what's better...until heaven provides what's best.