Practicing Hope
By Pastor Andy Bartel
I love to be outside. Riding my bike, running on the trails, skiing through the woods. I love to be outside. Except … I don’t. When the mercury falls and the darkness descends, it can be difficult to motivate myself to go outside. It’s too cold. It takes too long to get dressed and undressed. I’ll go tomorrow.
It seems easier to make excuses, than to just go and do the thing that I say I love. I remember Pastor Emily once saying, “I’ve never regretted a run.” Those words grabbed my attention. For all the mental calisthenics I may put myself through to avoid doing the thing I say I love, once I do it, I never regret it. I’m always grateful and thankful to have gone outside, and so I’ve learned that there will be plenty of times I don’t “FEEL LIKE” going outside, but if I just discipline myself, and do it anyway, even when, ESPECIALLY when I don’t feel like, I’ll be glad.
Hope is like that. Sometimes it’s hard to find. Sometimes it’s hard to feel hopeful, and those are the times I find I have to DO hopeful. Like biking, or running, or skiing, hope takes discipline and intentionality. Hope takes practice. And you know what’s amazing? Just like getting outside, choosing to practice hope never leaves me disappointed.
In the fifth chapter, the apostle Paul wrote to the church at Rome: “… suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us …”
My friends, this Advent season, when you feel overwhelmed by the suffering of the world, choose to practice hope. I promise, like going out for a run, hope never disappoints.
Andy Bartel is lead pastor at St. John UMC.