I am amazed at God's faithfulness. Karen woke up this morning and for the first time since surgery had oomph in her voice. It's is wonderful to hear energy back in her voice. I have so much to be thankful for. God has been gracious and given us the desire and hope of our hearts.

I was thinking about the idea of hope yesterday. It's a very prevalent theme in conversations from doctor's, friends and anyone else you come into contact with in these situations.

"You have to have hope." We are told and say to ourselves. It does seem, in fact, to be the cardinal and unforgivable sin in situations like these to take hope from the one suffering.

That got me thinking, however, about what we mean when we say this. (We so often say things without thinking through what we mean). Hope, after all (like trust or faith) is only as good as the object in which it is placed.

I am convinced that there is such a thing as vain hope. This is an empty hope. Hope for hope's sake. Or hope in something that is really not powerful enough to do any good at all (our own goodness, our inner strength, the skill of doctors, the love of those around us). Even hope in a good outcome is no place in which to put our hope. After all, none of us are promised tomorrow.

This is not the kind of hope that Karen and I have been given over the past week. By God's grace our hope has been placed in an object more solid and immovable than the universe itself. The Rock of our salvation, Jesus Christ.

As I looked in scripture at the whole idea of hope I was struck by how consistently we are shown that the key to hope is placing it in the hands of our redeeming God. Take a look at just a few of the verses that show us in whom we ought to place our trust ...

Psalms 31:24 Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord.

Psalms 33:18 But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,

Psalms 33:20 We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield.

Psalms 130:5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope.

Psalms 130:7 O Israel, put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love and with him is full redemption.

Psalms 147:11 the Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.

Isaiah 49:23 Kings will be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. They will bow down before you with their faces to the ground; they will lick the dust at your feet. Then you will know that I am the Lord; those who hope in me will not be disappointed."

Jeremiah 14:22 Do any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain? Do the skies themselves send down showers? No, it is you, O Lord our God. Therefore our hope is in you, for you are the one who does all this.

Jeremiah 17:13 O Lord, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you will be put to shame. Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust because they have forsaken the Lord, the spring of living water.

Lamentations 3:25 The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him;

Micah 7:7 But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.

1Peter 1:3 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,

1Peter 3:15 But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,

I thank God that because of his grace toward us, Karen and I know in whom our hope is found. I pray that from now on, if you have not done so before, you will all think carefully when you use the word hope and will ask yourself in what object that hope is placed.