Hope and Melodramas

I think melodramas were the impetus behind daytime soaps and reality TV. Think about it.

Going back a whole lot of years, those stage plays offered what captures our attention today when we peek into the living rooms of families in “real life” situations, right? The emotional scenes, over the top situations, and characters who draw us in with facial expressions and whispers.

Intense drama. A plot that doesn’t remotely seem possible. A villain. Heroine. Emotional baggage that needs to be delivered by cargo ship. We desperately long for a happy ending.

Throw in the music that cranks up all the feelings – love, sadness, betrayal, anger, romance, deceit – and it’s just crazy town.

I was the theater musician for a melodrama some years ago. I loved playing piano so much for “Love Rides the Rails!”

Prudence was the heroine in our production. When she learns that the villain is going to steal her widowed mother’s money and take over the railroad they own, she begins to faint. She whispers, Hope! How blessed sounds that word!, as she holds her thin wrist against her pale forehead and very gracefully glides to the ground. (My goodness. I can’t imagine gliding gracefully to the ground if we’re losing all our money.)

We hope for things in life, don’t we. We hope we get the house cleaned once and for all. We hope we remember to pick up milk at the store. We hope the Minnesota Vikings win the Super Bowl. We hope … we wish. There’s not too much despair involved in these “I hope” scenarios. (Well, maybe the Vikings winning the Super Bowl involves some desperation.)

But in the bigger deals in life, what we hope for is more likely to resemble the drama and emotions in melodramas. But it really is, real life.

We hope the money comes in. We hope the kids make smart decisions. We hope for positive test results.

This type of hope comes from deep in our soul; we feel it in our gut. It is more than a wish. It’s stronger than a whisper and a precursor to fainting. We need this hope to keep us living.

So, here’s the point I want to make now that you’ve read a perhaps-too-long set-up involving melodramas and fainting gracefully …

Hope needs to be our lifeline. An anchor.

My definition of HOPE: It’s a confident expectation that God has good things for me now and in the future. Even when I don’t see the good in front of me, I trust His character and His promises. I walk in His presence (Psalm 116:9) and anticipate His goodness (Psalm 27:13-14).

THIS Hope is not something I can create. It comes from not only believing in God, but believing God. Believing that He really is who He says he is. That He is always present, and He keeps his promises.

I trust Him. I anticipate His goodness.

Open your Bible to Lamentations 3:21 and read these words:
“But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope.”

Two big deal things here:
The author (scholars think it was Jeremiah) takes action to find his hope. He doesn’t sit around and wait to feel hopeful. He does something. He calls to mind. He recalls. Remembers.

And what does he remember? Verses 22-24 (ESV):
“The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!”

If your life has more drama and hurt and deceit than anything you ever imagined, first of all, I’m so sorry you are walking through this. I care about you.
And then … REMEMBER and RECALL: God is faithful. His mercies are for you. He keeps His promises.

There is HOPE. For you.

Once you’ve gotten your Bible out, look up two more verses:
“God – who does not lie – promised. (Titus 1:2 NLT)
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13 NIV)

We do not need to be the damsel in distress who hopelessly frets and sighs and wishes.
We are a daughter of the King who has everything we need and gives it to us. (Psalm 23:1)
That includes hope.

Trust God’s character and remember His promises.
Anticipate His goodness.