Hope

And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love; but the greatest of these is love. Cor 13:13

In modern American English, the word "hope" has a slightly different connotation than elpis, which is the Greek word used in the original rendition of Paul's letter.  Today, hope most commonly has the meaning "to wish for something." Back in the early 1600s when the King James Bible was being translated, the common meaning for hope was "to have confidence; trust." To stick close to the original intent in this Bible verse, we should think of hope as meaning "expectation" or "confident anticipation." It is a strong wish. 

When talking about the Runaway Bride, it is important to define the term because KatieLyn started the engagement with far more than an idle wish. She began with expectation full of hope. Faith, hope, and love are all divine spiritual forces. Somewhere along the way, KatieLyn lost her grip on hope and let loose of this godly spiritual power. Instead of expecting the promise of God, she began anticipating disaster and woe. Eventually she had enough faith in the marriage falling apart that she was able to make it happen.

One of the prayers that has been prayed for KatieLyn since her hopeless flight into the night has been based on Ephesians 1:18 - "I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling."

Before meeting KatieLyn, I thought of "the hope of His calling" this way: Hope meant a feeling of anticipation; Paul was praying that the Ephesian church would look forward to the future benefits of His calling.  Calling meant that God had called them to be born again as sons and daughters. All that is true, but it barely scratches the surface of the meaning packed into this verse. One of the lessons I learned from the runaway bride is that there is a lot more to the Hope of His Calling.
 
Paul was praying that the Ephesian church would know with certainty; that their spiritual eyes would be opened to new awareness of the hope of His calling. He did not want them ignorant. He did not want them filled with doubt.

Christians are called first and foremost to be a new creation in Him. Our other callings can all be categorized and sub-indexed to fit under that calling. A call to holiness, a call to good works, a call to witness, a call to prayer, all of it, are classifications under the general call to regeneration, to be alive in Christ. This first level is a gift of grace.

The next level in the taxonomy of calling divides three ways; calls towards others, calls for ourselves, and calls toward God. This is where our work begins; it is given the religious label sanctification.

For this is the will of God: your sanctification. 1 Thessalonians 4:3

"This is the will of God, even your sanctification." In that passage the will and calling of God are one and the same thing. Thus it may also be understood here: "That ye may know the hope of His revealed will," which He requires us to have. … The very fact that Paul was inspired to place on record this petition shows clearly that it is God’s will for His people to have assurance, that it is both their privilege and duty to earnestly seek it, and that an increased experience of assurance should be theirs. A doubting Thomas does not honor God. ~ A.W. Pink, (Providence Baptist  Ministries)

Hope is more than a feeling. It is an action. It is a spiritual force with the power to effect an outcome. It is an empowering anticipation, the act of expectation.

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The Lesson
I remember a grade school teacher saying that if anyone ever invented a perpetual motion machine, he would become fabulously rich. The interplay between 'the eyes of the heart being enlightened' and 'hope' is somewhat like a perpetual motion machine. One moves the other, which moves the other, which moves the other again. The rich blessings of grace accumulate this way.

The enemy works it in reverse too.

KatieLyn was around people and influences that were siphoning off her hope. The more depleted her hope, the less enlightenment she had of her calling. The less enlightened to the will of the God she became, the less hope she had.

It is a tragic thing to lose hope.

It is devilish to steal another person's hopes and dreams.