Today is a big day for me. It is test day. I plan (hope) to ride to Linton, IN today. I was doing this over a month ago but the weather (rain) changed that. Then schedule. Jo will be around as I ride. I am, admittedly, a little nervous. My thoughts on hope today spring from my test. I see two sections here: hope as seen through my eyes and hope as seen through God’s eyes.

#1 Section:

• A wish with no control over. “I sure hope the weather is good. No rain. Calm or tail wind.” 🙂
• What I think should happen. “I hope I have the strength to finish.”
• Motivational. “I’m doing this to tell myself I can and, if I’m honest, for Jo (and Tami if she goes) to be proud of me.” (It’s the Wild at Heart thing: “Every man has a battle to fight; an adventure to live; and a beauty to rescue.”)

How different from biblical hope. “A confident expectation of a guaranteed result that changes the way I live.”

#2 Section:

• Hope is confident. It is confident because I know who is in control and He is faithful.
• An expectation of a guaranteed result. God’s promises are good. They stand.
• The way I live is changed. Confidence and courage are my go-to’s. They affect my choices.

“Father, such a stark contrast between human hope and biblical/godly hope. Not that mine are bad, but they are shallow. May I live with biblical hope. May Psalm 20:7 be my go-to verse: ‘Some trust in chariots and some trust in horses, but (I) trust in the name of the Lord my God.’ Help me to live today in the hope that you give.”