An Active Hope

Dum spiro, spero.

Do you recognize this little Latin proverb? Just three words in a row, ordinarily nothing special, and certainly not remarkable on their own, until you realize their true power and meaning:

While I breathe, I hope.

What imagery! (For me, that is.) I, for whatever reason, imagine myself standing in a field, watching the sun set. The wind surrounds me gently, nature sings, and I breathe. And while I am breathing, I am hoping. (The proverb could actually also be translated as "While I am breathing, I am hoping.") One interpretation of the proverb could be that, while we're still alive, the story isn't over, the curtains haven't yet closed. If we're still here, there's still something to be done. What can we do with what we have, right now?

We must think of this instead of what we were once able to do and what we will be capable of accomplishing in the future. Look at it this way: the moment that we call 'now' is so brief, yet all-encompassing. "Now" was once the future, and by the time we've realized that there even is a "now", it's already become the past.

Robert Kiyosaki once said that

Your future is created by what you do today, not tomorrow.

So if we are to hope, we must not do so complacently. If we are to hope, we must do so actively. If we are to believe God will do great things in and through us, we must first show Him that we are capable of receiving such grace right now. If you've ever seen the movie Facing the Giants, you'll probably recall one particularly memorable concept of preparing for rain. In the movie, one of the characters tells a story about two farmers who both prayed for rain, but only one farmer received the true blessings of the rain. Why this one farmer, and not the other? The answer is straight to the point: one farmer prepared for rain, while the other didn't.

You see, it's one thing to pray and ask God for something glorious and miraculous. You must also believe it, and not only that--you must believe it so much that you begin to do things right now while you're waiting on God. That, my dear readers, is what is called "preparing for rain."

So what are you doing with your hopes at this moment? What are you doing with your prayers? Are you just halfheartedly hoping that God will come through and answer your prayer? Or are you praying with hope, knowing that eventually, all droughts must end?

Here's my challenge to you: instead of merely hoping, hope actively. Hope on its own is nothing more than a flimsy wish, which can easily be brought down. But an active hope--a hope that prepares for rain instead of dreaming of it--focuses on the knowledge that God can and will provide.

Success is the maximum utilization of the ability that you have.

~ Zig Ziglar

So do what you can, in this moment, with the resources God has placed in your hands right now. Do what you can, with who you are, where you are. God has put you in your particular place at this particular time for His particular reason. Don't let Him down.

To paraphrase Field of Dreams...

If you prepare the fields, then He will make it rain.