Trust and Hope
December 4, 2009
John Goldingay says, " . . . mindfulness is key to hope" (OT Theology III: 107). In a lengthy section in his third volume of OT Theology, he looks at trust from all sides, and in one small section reflects on the meeting of trust and hope in the life of Israel.
By "mindfulness" he means reflecting on what God has done and is doing so that we have a basis for hope. You read the narratives and poetry of the OT and gain one piece of understanding of how they witnessed God at work in their midst. You reflect on what God has done in your life, in the life of your church, in the life of a seminary, and you look forward in hope. We just finished a year of reflection on what God has done and is doing in the life of Sioux Falls Seminary. It was a great year. But it was also one in which economic difficulties in our world impacted the ministry of the school. It has caused lots of people to suffer, including some of the people involved in our ministry.
It is at this juncture, a crossroad where we may choose despair or hope, that we connect trust and hope. We trust ultimately not in the events and things that have happened or are happening, but in the person of Yhwh, our God. In the words of the psalmist, "So now, what do I look to, my Lord? My hope is in you" (Ps 39:7 [8]).
