Can you have Hope without Faith? I think it is impossible because, as the writer of the letter to the Hebrews says, Faith is the underlying reality of that which we Hope for, the evidence of the accomplished things that we have not yet seen. I think the connection between Faith and Hope is an if and only of connection. Hope cannot exist without Faith. Faith is barren unless it has given birth to Hope.

“If God is supernaturally working for my good every minute of every day, if His Love for me takes no rest, if His attention toward me does not waver… then how come my life is so hard when compared with that other person’s life?” This is the challenge of human inequality.

I used to tell the men in my Jail church services that one of the reasons I had to do Jail Ministry was because God used the time it took me to prepare that sermon to engage with me. If I had not had to prepare, I am sure I could have found all sorts of excuses not to read the Bible that week. It is embarrassingly easy to let the cares of the world distract us from spending time with Him… the God who made the entire Universe. Isn’t that shocking?

In the original Star Wars movie, Luke Skywalker is trying to convince Han Solo to help Princess Leia, by telling him that she’s rich and the reward he’d get would be worth it. When Han asks how big a reward, Luke replies: “Well, more wealth than you can imagine!”. And Han Solo’s reply is classic: “I don’t know, I can imagine quite a bit.”

In the second chapter of Paul’s letter to the Philippians, after exhorting us to support each other in love, and reminding us of the humility and obedience demonstrated by Christ, he tells us (Philippians 2:12-13) … my beloved, even as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much rather in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you both the willing and the working according to [his] good pleasure.

In the gospel of John, chapter 1, when John the baptizer sees Jesus walking by, he tells his disciples “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” The next morning, Andrew (Peter’s brother) and John (son of Zebedee) are with him, and he says the same thing; and Andrew and John set off immediately to follow Jesus. When Jesus notices them, He asks them one of the deepest questions we will ever face, a question we must all sooner or later face: “What do you seek?”