Workshop 6 in Foundations for Connecting With God Series
Reading:
HOPE IS BEING OPEN TO THE POSSIBILITY OF GOOD.
Hope: Such a small word, but so important when it comes connecting with God. Hope as it relates to connecting with God has to do with being open to the possibility that God is present and able to interact with us in a way that is real. It is less intense than faith which is willing to step out and take action on the hope or knowledge of God’s presence. Hope rather is having enough openness in God’s presence to ask God to initiate a connection with us and to help us recognize his presence and activity. When hope is missing, it tends to be very difficult for people to perceive God’s presence in their lives or to recognize any of the ways God may be moving in their lives and helping them. Hope seems to be a necessary ingredient in our willingness to turn our attention towards God.
There are several things about God that I have found it helpful to have hope in. Here they are:
- God is real.
- God is present.
- God is active.
- God is able to interact with us.
- God wants a relationship with us.
- God loves us (and likes us).
This list is not exhaustive and people may not always need to have all of them online, but at some level there needs to be a little bit of hope that some or all of these could be true in order for people to be willing to turn their attention in God’s direction and open themselves to connecting with God.