Hope is for chumps
Nancy Kennedy
Hope is for chumps.
That’s one of my favorite sayings.
Hope brings disappointment.
Hope bets on the Mets.
Hope waits for happily-ever-after.
Hope thinks this time will be different.
Hope makes ridiculously unwise real-estate decisions.
Case in point: Jeremiah.
First of all, he cried a lot. So, there’s that.
Also, no one liked him much because he constantly talked about the coming gloom and doom.
One time he bought some linen underwear, wore it, then buried it in the crevice of a rock. Days later, he dug it up and showed it to people, telling them that God said He would ruin Judah and Jerusalem just like the ruined underwear.
Not a fun party guest.
Also not the sharpest pencil when it comes to buying property.
Jeremiah’s in prison as the Babylonians are decimating Jerusalem. He had tried to tell the king to surrender now before he’s captured, which is the message that got Jeremiah tossed in jail.
Then God tells him to buy his cousin’s farm while the nation’s under attack. Not to mention he’s behind bars in the dungeon underneath the palace.
When his cousin comes to visit him in prison, Jeremiah tells him he wants to buy his property.
So, he does, signing and sealing the deed in front of witnesses. He then gives the deed to a guy named Baruch and tells him to put it in a pottery jar to preserve it for a long time.
Jeremiah prays and God confirms what he already knows: the nation will be captured by the Babylonians. The city will burn and there will be disease and famine, then the Israelites will scatter.
Jeremiah had already been telling the people that, so you would think he would’ve held off on the real-estate deal.
But God also told him that He would bring the Israelites back and they would live in peace and safety.
“And they shall be My people, and I will be their God.”
Jeremiah didn’t live to see that day 70 years in the future.
He never got to live on his property.
He had hope anyway.
Not hope that says, “Things aren’t that bad.”
But hope that says, “Things are that bad and might get worse. But God isn’t finished.”
I always say, “Hope is for chumps.” There’s always a risk.
Hope makes us vulnerable.
Hope risks disappointment.
Hope isn’t a guarantee.
Sometimes hope looks ludicrous. Faith often looks ridiculous, but hope and faith act on God’s promises rather than what others think or say — or even what we might see ourselves.
But hope keeps praying.
Hope buys the farm, even when it’s surrounded by an invading army, because God says to.
Hope plants the garden.
Hope keeps the porch light on for the prodigal.
Hope stays when the marriage gets hard.
Hope looks at the stack of unpaid bills and says, “God will provide.”
Hope goes to a burial place and dares to think the impossible might happen.
Hope keeps believing God isn’t finished.
Maybe it’s not having hope that’s for chumps.
Contact Nancy Kennedy at 352-564-2927 (leave a message) or email at nkennedy@chronicleonline.com.
