text: How hope impacts the potential of the future - Peacefully Imperfect
  How hope impacts the potential of the future
  One of my favorite things about the Bible is that I can always find a new meaning in passages that I've read over and over. Topics that I covered in depth a year ago can be displayed in a new light through The Living Word, something I can't say about any other books. I've written about hope before and I've always loved studying that word, but recently I've found a new meaning behind a topic I pridefully thought I completely understood. My new lesson can be summed up rather quickly…
  I know, I know. That isn't the saying you probably know, but just hear me out. Biblical hope is built on faith, something that I want to define as "complete trust and confidence in something". Hope, while closely and intimately related to faith, is not exactly that (despite a post I wrote a year ago that defined hope with almost those exact words). Hope is the anticipation that comes with having faith. A confident expectation. A peaceful assurance that something unseen will indeed come into fruition. Faith and hope are complementary. Faith is found absoluteness of past experience; hope gives attention to the potential of the future. Know your source of faith and from there you find your hope.
  Know your source of faith and from there you find your hope.
  To have hope in tomorrow, in the future generation, in your own abilities, is something I would consider to be a form of worship because that reaffirms that you have FAITH in our God that His promises will ring true. I know this is difficult, especially in today's world, where there is conflict, pain, suffering and confusion on all sides. How can someone have hope in a time where you probably feel a little hopeless?
  Romans 8:24 says, "Hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have?"
  "Hope that is seen is no hope at all." There is your answer. Your strongest form of hope comes when things seem hopeless- when you can't see the good, the light at the end, the knight in shining whatever to save the world. Jesus's power is shown through our weakness and our greatest strengths are found through him alone. Our HOPE in Him, the wondrous, powerful, almighty, Son- who has already saved us all, is our power.
  Let me repeat a phrase I said earlier… faith is found absoluteness of past experience; hope gives attention to the potential of the future. Our faith comes from what has already happened, He has already died for you, cleansed you of your sin, paid for you IN FULL. There is your faith, your complete trust and confidence in the perfect Savior. Now comes hope. Anticipation that everything will happen according to His plan and that He will reign victorious in His promise.
  Now, I'm just a 21 year old college student. My hope this week, as finals approach, is partially found in the fact that God has never once declared a GPA requirement for entrance into heaven. My hope is also found in the foundation that Jesus has set, one that tells me that if I love others, care for His Kingdom, and confidently place my faith in Him alone- that everything is going to be okay.
  Hi, I'm Kaitlyn. I'm a junior at Baylor University, majoring in psychology with hopes of one day being a therapist for children with special needs and developmental disorders. I'm involved with the Peer Leader Program and Baylor's Student Foundation and I love these organizations because they allow me to serve the student body and give back, as I was loved so well my first two years. These organizations and Baylor as an institution really push me as an individual to love others well and to serve with a heart like Jesus. I truly believe God has called me to serve the underserved and my goal is to point others towards the Gospel in whatever job or place He places me.