What does your soul long for? Do you even know how to put it into words? Epic Hope is a great depiction of what God can do in your life. Epic is described as something heroic or grand. Hope is the confident expectation of what God has promised.
What Epic Hope Means For Us
On some level, we realize we are broken. We are missing something important. Even when we are not sure what that “thing” is, we long to be whole, fulfilled, and complete. God knows us intimately because he created every detail of us. He knows what we need, even when we do not have the words to express it. God knew we needed something “epic”, something grand and heroic to fill the need we have inside our souls.
We long for hope, we want what is good, for things to be better, to be just, peaceful and right. There is no way for us to attain this on our own. We try hard, but in and of our power we are left feeling exhausted, frustrated, empty, lonely, and maybe even shameful. God knew we needed Epic Hope, so He sent His son to bridge the gap that sin created between His perfectness and our brokenness.
The idea of God’s power is an overwhelming thought. We cannot even come close to imagining all that He is capable of. His wisdom, sovereignty, and love for us are on a scale so large, that our humanity cannot even grasp its depth. If you have ever felt like you have seen even a portion of God’s power at work, you may be inclined to know that it can almost be frightening.
In Exodus 33:20 while speaking to Moses, God said,
“you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”
It’s hard to imagine that even being in the presence of God would be so powerful it would cause you to die.
Plans For Hope And A Future
I’ve struggled to see God’s bigger picture for me many times. Even when I can only see a small snap-shot of my current situation, I get wrapped up in what I think and how I feel, and I miss the heart of God.
When I think of myself through the lens of being a parent, I can best understand God’s heart and plan for me. As a mom, I want what is best for my kids. I want them to be safe, happy, grateful, polite, kind, patient, the list goes on. I have big dreams and hopeful plans for their futures. God wants these things for us as well.
I remember I took my kids camping a few summers ago. I planned a whole day for them. The plan was to have lunch and then go swimming at the beach. They were small and got easily excited and distracted. It would be a disaster to tell them the whole plan for the day when they woke up. They would be so excited about the fun parts that they wouldn’t be patient until it was time to go. It would be too hard for them to focus on the things I needed them to and our morning would be chaos. I knew they could not handle knowing all that was coming that day, so I withheld it until it was time.
My kids assumed I was not going to do anything fun with them. As we ate our boring lunch, they began to protest and complain and started to get grumpy They even accused me of not caring about what they wanted. I said to them, “Would you guys just please trust me? I have a good plan for you today!”
Oh my! As soon as the words left my mouth, I realized I had just spewed scripture at them.
“For I know the plans I have for you” declares the Lord. “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11
Trusting God And Knowing Jesus
I thought this must be exactly how God feels about me. He knows what I need and the whole situation and the timing in which it will happen. God has a good plan for me and He also knows that I am too small to understand all that He knows. In His loving-kindness as a loving Father, He chooses to protect me from the things I’m not ready to know, yet in my immaturity, I assume he is absent or unaware of my need.
As our teaching pastors have shared with us during this series, we should not assume Jesus is distant, rather ask Him to help you and wait for his provision. Jesus knows you and wants you to know him. Ask him to reveal himself.
God wants to bless you. He is capable of epic things as told in Mark 5. He can heal and raise the dead to life. What we may forget is that He cares about our day-to-day needs as well as the big issues we face. We experience Epic Hope when we go from knowing about Jesus to knowing Jesus.
