By Steven Norris
After last week’s column on hope, a friend sent me another article (“What Does it Mean to Hope in the Lord?”) that I found very insightful. Pastor and author, Taylor Jensen, offers additional insight into two different Hebrew words that we often translate into English as “hope.”
Hope is a rope. The first Hebrew term is tiqvah and is used in the book of Joshua. You may remember the story of the spies that scoped out the Promised Land. They were helped by an unlikely individual — a prostitute named Rahab. Not only would Rahab show up in Hebrews 11 as part of faith’s “hall of fame,” but according to Matthew’s Gospel, Rahab is one of the direct ancestors of Jesus.
In Joshua 2, we read these instructions given to Rahab: “When we come into the land, you must leave this scarlet rope (tiqvah) hanging from the window through which you let us down.” Likewise, Jensen states that another way to read Jeremiah 29:11 would be, “‘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 A ROPE (tiqvah) and a future.’”
Hope is a lifeline in an emergency. It is a way out of the pit of despair and heartache. It is an anchor in the midst of the storm. That is, if your rope is tied to something secure. If your rope is tied to our unchanging God.
To what is your rope tied today? As Jensen put it, “If my security is tied to anything in this world — my job, house, health, money, political party, economy, whatever — then I have secured my hope to this world rather than to God. Then, when I lose my job, can’t pay my rent, get sick, lose my money, the wrong person gets in the White House, the economy tanks, or a loved one dies, I will lose all hope for this life!”
Hope is also an eager expectation. Rather than seeing hope as something you possess (I have hope), it may be better seen as a verb (I hope). One of the most well-known uses of this kind of hope comes from the prophet Isaiah. “But those who hope (qavah) 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 be faint.” The Hebrew word “qavah” could be translated as “lie in wait” or “to wait expectantly.”
Waiting on God can be difficult in, what I like to call, our Burger King culture (“your way, right away”). We have come to expect everything almost instantly. Hope is about recognizing that there are things out of my control. The final outcome may be certain, but the timing is not. Job wrestled with this when he said, “When I expected [waited on] good, then evil came; When I waited [expected/hoped] for light, then darkness came.” Waiting can be excruciating, but God promises to renew us in the waiting.
My prayer for you in this season is that you lash your rope to the sturdy hope of God’s promise and choose to live with the absolute assurance that God is for you and will show up at the right time.