Hope

As the branch of the foreign company Mister Caveman works in has just been established here for a year and a half, they did not enjoy any profits this year. So Mister Caveman and I did not expect a raise in his salary. But one of his co-workers, whose wife is expecting a baby, hoped for a raise as he did indeed strive to work hard for the past year to obtain that salary raise. So when the inevitable news came a couple of weeks ago, that there will be no raise, Mister Caveman took it with his customary caveman-like grunt and a shrug, while that co-worker was very disappointed. He even took an MC ( medical leave ) the following day, probably to nurse his anger and disappointment.

Hope. The definition of mundane hope is to wish for something and expect fulfilment.

It is something people strive for. It's about the efforts they put in so as to hope to achieve what they want. In the corporate world, they work hard with the hope of getting a higher salary. In the dating world, they buff up their self image with the hope of getting the partner they want. For students, they work hard and hope for good results. For parents, they exhaust their savings to place their children in expensive private schools or pricey colleges with the hope that their children's futures will be secure and bright. Childless couples go for fertility treatment with the hope of getting a child.

Hope. Often portrayed as a flickering candle. For a better tomorrow. Very often though, when we get what we hoped for, we often move on to a new hope. Mundane hope is temporary, and alters as our life situations alter. Mundane hope at times revolves around the will of a third person, usually a person of authority who has the power to dispense or withhold hope like a candy-vending machine.

What is eternal hope?

~~Eternal hope is the power within us when we open our hearts to the Holy Spirit.
~~Eternal hope is the assurance that God gives us.
~~Eternal hope is the hope in God.

God offers us the biggest hope when He called us to be His children. He will provide all that we need, hence we don't need to use our own will and strength to try to obtain the things we want. Our own strength is exhaustable. When we exhaust ourselves, we tend to give up, and mundane hope shatters. This is when we become depressed and feel hopeless. But when we put our hopes in God, we have the assurance that all will be well.

Everything has been predestined by God. If we don't get the expected raise, that's because God deems what we have right now is exactly the right amount for our conditions right now. if God doesn't give us children, then we raise spiritual children. Be the shepherd to those who need guidance. When we start to see the transformation in the lives of those we shepherd, the joy far surpasses the mundane things we hope for. For those facing marriage, do not hope for the perfect spouse or whether your spouse will be able make you happy. Marriage is not about ourselves. The hope of marriage is for the kingdom of God, to glorify God and for the couple to walk the same path towards the same goal, and towards the same inheritance God has prepared for us. Hence we become 'one heart one spirit'. We do not place our hopes in our spouses, with the hope that they'll obtain a successful career and bring more money home, with the hope that they'll remain hopelessly in love with us forever, or with the hope that they will change their attitudes or bad habits that irritate us. To focus on these will be like having a tunnel vision, the 'me, us, ourselves' concept.

We place our hopes in God. We trust that God will guide us in our respective roles as husbands or wives. We trust that God will tide us over when we land on a 'dry patch'. We will also be able to accept our spouse's irritating ways when we place our hopes in God. We will be able to change our mindsets as well, to love and to accept our spouses as they are, simply because we know that God loves them, faults and all. And despite the 'high regard' we usually have for ourselves, we are not that perfect either! God will sanctify our spouses as He sees fit, and sanctify us as well so that we will be able to grow closer together, understand and empathise with each other as we walk together.

Parents place their hopes on their children, and also hope that when they grow old, their children will take care of them. But when we place our hopes in God, we know that God will take care of us even if the children won't. Placing our hopes in God gives us an unshakable assurance, one that will not send us to the depths of despair when our mundane hopes are dashed. We know that no matter what happens, we are well take care of. This is a well-placed hope.

The hope God gives us makes our lives more meaningful. This hope is a 'hope of long-term basis'. This type of hope won't let us down, unlike the 'hope of short-term basis', which leaves us vulnerable to the disappointments in our lives, or the bleakness when mundane hope fails.

Romans 8:24 -- For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees?