Hope is a Verb

Let's be real honest, the word "verb" is a weird word. It looks backwards almost as if it should be spelled "brev" but it would lack the same appeal. It looks funny and rhymes with not much of anything, except maybe "blurb" and just a handful more. It's not that it doesn't evoke thought, just rarely invokes practical conversational use. We don't hear people say, "Love how you were verbing some sweet moves." or "I'm sorry, can you repeat your question using a verb?" (And just for the record, the word "verb" is a noun, go figure!) Here is the official definition from  dictionary I found after I Googled it:

"A word that indicates an action, event, or state."

There are many words we think of when we think of verbs. We think run, jump, hike, ski, lift, hover(for some), pick, skip, chew, argue, fight, talk and many more things that we do everyday, well, maybe not hover, I don't do that everyday, just Fridays;) To most of us, verbs are not romantic comedies but action-adventure shoot 'em up movies. Romantic comedy movies are all about ethereal things like love and passion and silliness and hope. We never think about these things being verbs they do represent events and states of being or a state in mind. When someone says, "I'm so in love with so-in-so" we think what does "being in love" look like really? Is it roses on the doorstep? Kisses on the lips? Holding hands in public? Laughing at all his awful, corny jokes? (Don't look at me) What is the action tense of "being in love" or is it more than action, is it a state of being? I conclude that it's both. The contemporary christian band that is no longer a band, dc Talk, had a single on their "Free at Last" album(yes, I own it) entitled "Luv is a Verb"(yes they misspelled Love)The second verse go likety, like this yo:

Simple and plain, L O V E, ain't all that junk that ya see on TV
Put soaps on a rope 'cause they ain't worth copin' with
It's a myth that there ain't no hope
And luv is enough if it's unconditionally givin'
Now you're living out the Great Commission

Words come easy but don't mean much
When the words they're sayin' we can't put trust in
We're talkin' 'bout love in a different light
And if we all learn to love it would be just right

Hey, tell me, haven't ya heard? Luv is a serious word
Hey, I think it's time ya learned
I don't care what they say, I don't care care what ya heard
The word luv, luv is a verb

(Read more: DC Talk - Luv Is A Verb Lyrics | MetroLyrics )

I happen to agree with TobyMac, Tait and Kevin Maxx. It is a serious word, it's a word that requires action and is action because it represents affection from two people. Another state of being that I believe is a verb is the word: Hope.  Hope doesn't seem like it should be a verb but it certainly resembles all the attributes of such action tenses.

Proverbs 13: 12 says this about hope:

"Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life."

Hope is a state of waiting patiently, sometimes frustratingly waiting. It's the longing for something that hasn't happened yet. It's about waiting, but with great anticipation and great expectations. You hope the phone rings from the recruiter after applying for the 39th job. You hope the car starts when it is 12 degrees outside. You hope there isn't traffic on your way to pick up the kids from school. You hope you get the promotion at work. You hope the cancer goes away. Sometimes, we wait a long time. Sometimes this makes us sick, because we wait and we wait and we wonder if God is upholding His end of the bargain. We can become physically ill because we focus on us and not on God, saying things like this.... "God, I have prayed everyday, trusted you, got good grades, did all my prelims and still, I haven't see my acceptance to law school." "God, I teach Sunday School, attend every church service and volunteer at my kids school..plus teach a women's bible study...why haven't you provided me a Godly man in my life?" "God, when will you help me with my bills? They are piling up and I can't afford all that's due!" We wait, we hope, we get frustrated. Out heart grows sick.

The act of hoping reminds me of going out to dinner with three small children, namely mine. Me and my wife get dressed up and make sure they look presentable too. This usually happens on Sunday after church but can happen on the occasional weekday evening too. You picked the perfect restaurant, nice and quaint but kid friendly enough for your three under four years old. The waitress arrives,  asks for the drink order, you ask for the crayons and kid menu adventure sheet first. Everything is going just great until the kids finish all their games and color me spots on the menu and no food has arrived. Bread lasted only a few minutes. Then the natives get restless. All you are hoping for is a nice family meal that you didn't have to prepare. The amazing Chicken Picatta is beckoning your name and just as your wife is carrying off a screaming child, one makes a mess in his shorts and the third is asleep on the booth....the food arrives. It's looks so awesome, prepared to the finest, plated exceptionally, presentation is flawless and you are the only one there to enjoy the Chef's cuisine, the expediter's plate arrangement and waitress' artistic garnishes. After two bites, you ask for the bill and to-go boxes. Yes, this meal, to be consumed at none other than your own dinner table because that's how it goes with little ones sometimes. (The Holderness family should make a video of this scene)You've waited for the delicious morsels to savor and now, after everyone has been pacified, you get to eat the entire meal. And you say, "Honey, this was worth the wait!" Bon Appetite!

But maybe our waiting is the best part of hoping? Not fun but necessary during the time of waiting, it's the best part because it's allow God time to get everything ready for us, including ourselves. What if He did answer our prayer right away? Would we be ready? Mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually...probably not. He knows what He is doing. God could have created the earth in one breath in one second but He chose 6 days, why? He needed to lay the foundation, heavens and the earth(Sun, Moon, Stars, Planets) Then water, then light, then day and night. If animals were created first, how would they survive? The same goes for us, He could create an opportunity to answer our prayer immediately but maybe He is laying the foundation first. It could be that we are spiritually immature even with all of our "Spiritual Doing" through activities and responsibilities. We may think since we do a lot, we should get a lot, especially that in which we hoped would happen. Through it all, God knows when we are ready for what He has in store for us. Maybe we need to get our finances in check(stop living beyond our means, close the credit cards down, etc.) before we can expect Him to bless us with a new job or a promotion. Maybe we need to solidify our relationships with our children(i.e.-spend time with them, get to know who they really are, help with homework, pray with them etc..) before we introduce a potential husband to replace their father who left us behind to pursue his "own life." We are often waiting on God but the converse is always true too, He is waiting on us. Only He knows when we are truly ready.

David was anointed as King in 1 Samuel 16 while he was still a shepherd boy. This was before being placed in Saul's service as a commander, before defeating the Philistine's, and while King Saul was still on the throne!  He had to wait a long time in order to actually become King, some estimates were that he was anointed as a teenager between the ages of 14-16 and became King at age 30 (2 Samuel 5) after Saul died. David waited, at the minimum, 14  years. Reminds me of another famous waiting game. Remember the one where in Genesis Jacob was promised Rachel after seven years in her father's(Laban) service. Laban tricked Jacob(ironic isn't it, given Jacob tricking his father to get the birthright blessing from Isaac) and gave him Leah instead of Rachel(and Leah wasn't the prettiest of the two.) Therefore, Jacob worked another seven years, 14 years total to marry Rachel. Talk about a long engagement! Talk about patience! I'm sure along the way, though, Jacob was heart sick for what he hoped for, I'm sure he was a little pissed off too. But that didn't stop him from pursuing the dream. He could have stopped working for Laban, divorced Leah or refused her and tried to do things in his own power, in his own strength and in his own timing. However, he pressed own toward the prize and humbly worked to earn that which he was promised.

We are all promised something in life and we all hope that what we have been promised will be fulfilled. Until it happens, we can experience a myriad of emotions. We can feel worn. We can feel fatigued. We can feel depressed. We can feel anger. We can feel forgotten. Through the journey, those who have hoped in Lord, there is the promise of fulfillment and once fulfillment occurs, it will be like a tree of life. Full of energy, full of vitality, fully of growth and abundance. But the tree didn't become healthy, vibrant and lush all at once. No, it first need to be planted as a seed, then watered and nurtured. Then, roots needs to form and be set to find the nutrients need to growth. Then, one day, it sprouts and green leaves are visible. A trunk gives birth to branches and branches give birth to stems and stems give birth to leaves. Next time you look at a fully grown oak tree or any tree for that matter, think about hope. Think about growth. Think that Hope is a Verb in that it is a state of being but that it is also an action word because through our waiting, we are creating something magnificent and God just can't wait for us to experience what we hoped for. Never stop hoping, it's the verb that keeps on giving. Hoping is worth the wait.