The Tribune

By BISHOP VG CLARKE HOPE has been defined as "a feeling that what is wanted will happen; desire accompanied by expectation." In the scripture, hope is closely connected to faith. "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen," according to Hebrews 11:1. Man cannot survive without hope. It is what gives meaning to all of life. The fact that "we are saved by hope", is stated in Romans 8:24. Victor Frank in his book, "Man's Search for Meaning", graphically tells how he was able to survive the horrors of a Nazi concentration camp by focusing on the hope of liberation and deliverance, rather than on the suffering and death that was happening all around him. The minister frequently faces circumstances and situations that are discouraging and defeating on the surface - a scathing criticism, a financial reverse, a lack of spiritual results, piling up of people's problems. To handle these difficulties on the human level is impossible. To fight with carnal weapon is useless. Such an approach assures defeat. What is needed is a spiritual solution. The first step in spiritually solving any problem is to transcend it - to get above. Don't try to slug it out on the fleshly level. Get in the spiritual realm. How is this done? But developing the "feeling that what is wanted will happen". By exercising faith and hope, remember that such a feeling will not come automatically. It will come only as a conscious act of the will. Hope arises out of a concentration on the good and positive things (Phil. 4:8). We must not focus on the difficult; but on the fact that God will bring deliverance. To transcend a problem (to practice hope) does not mean that we will leave the problem; it simply means that by viewing it from God's perspective, we will see it as it really is. When we understand the true nature of the problem, we will then be able to confront it properly. Keep in mind however, that this is not possible without first exercising faith and hope. We must understand that it is hope that gives us the spiritual insights and power necessary to take the fear out of the future.