.hope & faith.

hope.
it calls us to be patient.
it gives us strength & confidence
to run the race,
fight the good fight,
and endure the trials of this life.
faith.
it is the assurance of things hoped for.
it is a confident expectation & desire for good things in the future.
it is the conviction of things unseen.
some of these [unseen] are not in the future.
faith can look back to creation as well as forward.
faith is the big idea.
it includes hope.
but it is more than that.
hope is faith in future tense.
hope that is seen is not hope.
who hopes for what he sees?
we hope for what we do not see.
we wait for it with patience.

i am a prisoner of hope.
[zechariah 9:12]
i love how this verse changes our perspective.
it takes a word with negative connotations
[prisoner]
and turns it into something positive.
something beautiful.
hope is a promise.
a covenant.
one that won't be broken.
it will be fulfilled.
one day.
be patient.