God-Sized Hope

The poet Emily Dickinson once wrote, "Hope is the thing with feathers, that perches in the soul and sings the tunes without the words and never stops at all." For Christians, a God-sized hope goes even deeper.

The book of Revelation, nestled at the very end of the Bible, is full of hope. It shows us a hope of something better. A verse that provides great confidence in my own life is 21:5. It states: "Then He who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new." Within this passage, God demonstrates the hope that we have in Him.

While this passage offers hope in different ways, the most significant source comes in a look towards heaven. Too often we are so caught up in our daily lives, we forget our ultimate goal. Heaven seems like a faraway place we will go a very long time from now. Our minds can hardly grasp it. But there is a longing within each child of God for it.

Have you ever had that moment where you are longing for something but don't know what it is? Deep within, something screams out for something more. There have been times when I have stared in awe at the ocean, overwhelmed by its magnitude and beauty. At the same time, though, I know I have more for which to look forward. I am longing for something even more magnificent than a sparkling ocean. I am yearning for a time when I am with the Creator, not the creation. That feeling is the hope that heaven offers.

Although this world has much to offer, our hope in heaven says we were made for something grander than this world. I am not alone in this. The apostle Simon Peter also looked forward to it. Second Peter 3:13 shows his longing: "We are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of the righteous." We are homesick for somewhere we have never been. That is the hope that gets Christians through the tough times.