Hope.

Hope. It's simple. Its a 4 letter word. It's merely an arrangement of letters.

But I can think of few words that carry a heavier meaning than Hope. It's thrown about casually, "I hope I can leave work early today." Its thrown around selfishly, "I hope I get that sweater I've had my eye on for Christmas." Its thrown about with false pretenses, "I hope she knows I'm only saying these things because I care about her." Hope is a word that is profoundly powerful, but yet has somehow become just another verb to throw into a sentence. Want...wish...hope...they all have come to mean the same thing.

But Hope is more. Hope is not just wishing for something to be a certain way, or for someone to do a certain thing, or for circumstances to fall into place just as you think they should. No, Hope is more. Hope is believing is something greater than yourself. Hope is Faith. Can you really have one without the other? Without Faith, Hope would be nearly impossible. How can you Hope for something if there isn't an underlying Faith that what you Hope for can be provided? And what is there to have Faith in if there is nothing to Hope for?

We all Hope for something. Whether it be safety for our loved ones, or for a resolution for conflict both inside and out, or for a lifetime of happiness and security. And we Hope because we have Faith. Faith that these things we Hope for can be provided. That they will be provided. And even if our Hopes are not met in the way that we would wish for, there must still be Faith. Faith in the plan that God has. A plan that is bigger than any of us. Because He Hopes for us too. And its not a casual, meaningless, or selfish Hope. He Hopes for us in the way the we should Hope for ourselves. And ultimately we must have Faith in allowing his Hopes to become our reality.

Hope. A simple 4 letter word.