Dare Not

"To hope, for thou dar'st not despair."

~ Francis Thompson

For A Name

"Instead of the thorn 

shall come up the fir tree,

and instead of the brier 

shall come up the myrtle tree:

and it shall be to YHWH for a name..."

- Isaiah 55:13

Not Blazing

I saw a piece of art once.  It reminded me of hope, whatever the artist’s intention was.  The setting was dim, almost dark, like when you forgot to turn on a light after the sun went down.  But in the middle were defiantly bright flowers and fruit.  I felt that the dreary world was trying to stifle the hope, but the little bits of color stood fast and determined against being conquered. 

Hope isn’t always a blazing beacon; sometimes it is the undying glimmer in the distant stars.  

Certainty

"That’s the danger 

of living according to the values of a culture where 

certainty 

is synonymous with wisdom. 

It leaves no room 

for God 

to do the unexpected, 

and prove He’s even greater 

than we thought He was." 

~ Jesse Carey

Through

"The ten spies looked at God

through the difficulties,

while Joshua and Caleb

looked at the difficulties through what they knew about God."

~ Warren Wiersbe

"Ever the Hope of Men"

“Aragorn looked at the pale stars, and at the moon, now sloping behind the western hills that enclosed the valley. 'This is a night as long as years,' he said. 'How long will the day tarry?'

'Dawn is not far off,' said Gamling, who had now climbed up beside him. 'But dawn will not help us, I fear.'

'Yet dawn is ever the hope of men,' said Aragorn.”

~ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers

Like A Star

"Hope itself is like a star—

not to be seen in the sunshine of prosperity, 

and only to be discovered in the night of adversity." 

~ C.H. Spurgeon