‘O’ is for…
Contributing Writer: Aaron Hedges, Inheritance of Hope Technology & Talent Director
The experience of hard times (‘H’) leads us to the next letter in our H-O-P-E handle, ‘O’. ‘O’ is for openness – openness to God and God’s ability to transform the hard times.
If hard times were the only or final reality, they would crush hope, and some of us know too well this sense of hopelessness. However, hard times can instead give rise to hope because they are the location of God’s transformative work. Therefore true hope involves openness during the hard times, openness to the possibilities of God’s presence and transformation.
The greatest example here is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. If the cross had been the last chapter in Jesus’s story, we would be in a desperate place. We would have no reason to believe that anything other than death is the ultimate reality; all evidence would point to futility and meaninglessness and yes, hopelessness, having the last word.
But… the cross was not the end! God raised Jesus from death, literally creating a new world of possibilities! In Christ, we have hope – not hope of avoiding death (Jesus himself died after all), but hope of being given life beyond death’s influence.
In Christ, God can redeem the hard times of our lives, including death, and transform us into part of a glorious new creation. So ‘O,’ for openness to God, is a critical part of the handle on H-O-P-E.
The experience of hard times (‘H’) leads us to the next letter in our H-O-P-E handle, ‘O’. ‘O’ is for openness – openness to God and God’s ability to transform the hard times.
If hard times were the only or final reality, they would crush hope, and some of us know too well this sense of hopelessness. However, hard times can instead give rise to hope because they are the location of God’s transformative work. Therefore true hope involves openness during the hard times, openness to the possibilities of God’s presence and transformation.
The greatest example here is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. If the cross had been the last chapter in Jesus’s story, we would be in a desperate place. We would have no reason to believe that anything other than death is the ultimate reality; all evidence would point to futility and meaninglessness and yes, hopelessness, having the last word.
But… the cross was not the end! God raised Jesus from death, literally creating a new world of possibilities! In Christ, we have hope – not hope of avoiding death (Jesus himself died after all), but hope of being given life beyond death’s influence.
In Christ, God can redeem the hard times of our lives, including death, and transform us into part of a glorious new creation. So ‘O,’ for openness to God, is a critical part of the handle on H-O-P-E.