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November 2, 2009 - Hope in God

Put your HOPE in God!  Psalms 42:5

Football is once again with us.  Next to NASCAR racing, football ranks as the top spectator sport in the United States.  Fans will often argue whether college football is more exciting than the NFL, or whether Arena Football is a real game, or if another league like the XFL should even exist, or if the Canadian Football (CFL) should have a competing league. 

After all the arguing settles down we find a slight difference in rules, size of the fields or the continued rivalry between the AFC and NFC.  But mere tongue exercises do not take away from the unique excitement this sport brings to our culture.

Much in the same way the Roman gladiators brought excitement to a crowded arena, so does the modern-day gladiator, a football player, bring palpable excitement to millions of loyal fans.  There is a unique vicarious experience that happens to average “couch potato fans” who see big-quick talented men work to a point of near exhaustion in order to move a little piece of leather up and down a field while being mostly oblivious to the pain they are projecting onto others.

Twenty-four hours a day radio and television sports talk stations beam their messages of hope and doom to all who wish to listen.  Still with all its adulation and pomp, football is football.  It is played one down at a time and most often gains are measured one yard at a time.  With all the innovation and new technology, the most constant standard found in any huddle, on any bench and in any locker room remains as it was from the beginning - HOPE!

A player enters summer training with the hope of making the team.  Then he must hope that his skills and knowledge so impress the coaches that he will be selected to make the starting team.  Once the game starts the professional football player hopes he can remember all his assignments.  Then he hopes his physical and emotional capabilities are up to the challenges and stresses he will face week after week.  With each tackle there is the hope that he won’t get a career ending injury because even the very top players are only one play away from permanent retirement in football.

The hope-filled life of a player continues as he expects to make it to the playoffs, Super Bowl, Pro Bowl and to repeat all of that the next year.  He hopes his patient family will understand that during “the Season” football has a big place in his mind and time.

Hope is defined as, “a feeling that what is wanted is likely to happen; desire accompanied by expectation”.  It is also defined as a trust or reliance upon something.  Many NFL or college players have come to realize that at the end of the day there is only one thing that warrants our expectations and will soothe our fears and that is a relationship with God Almighty.  He is the only thing that remains a constant and that we can place our complete trust in.  And in the final analysis, He is our only Hope.

Look at the Benefits That HOPE Gives Us:

• Hope helps you get started in the right direction.

But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.  Isaiah 40:31

• Hope helps you overcome obstacles.

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

• Hope helps you keep going.

In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 1 Peter 1:6

Problems are inevitable and unexpected.  Think about the Process of Our HOPE:

• We must embrace our problems and face our tribulation.

Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. Romans 5:3-5

• We must practice patience and perseverance.

But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. Romans 8:25

• We must learn the lessons that will help grow our character and witness.

Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 1 Timothy 6:17

• We must enjoy our hope and relish the opportunity to encourage others.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 1 Peter 1:3

The hectic pace of our modern society often creates more stress, chaos and confusion than it provides opportunities for a person to contemplate great truths and God’s comforting words.  I trust you will have a HOPE-filled life, receiving the benefits of a personal relationship with God.