This verse seems to be full of oxymorons. We have hope but we can’t see the hope; we wait eagerly but wait with patience… But believe me, it isn’t oxymoronic. Our Hope is Christ. Even though we haven’t physically seen Him, we chose to believe in Him. We received Him, and in so doing, received salvation, which gives us the hope of heaven. While we wait, we anticipate the moment, but we recognize that Christ’s return is in God’s timing, not ours. So we look to the sky in hopeful eagerness but continue to do the good works He’s ordained for us while we’re still here. Ephesians 1:18 gives us part of Paul’s prayer for the believers in Ephesus—”I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.” What a beautiful prayer, and one we can adopt for ourselves: Open the eyes of my heart, Lord…let me see as You see and love as You love, knowing that the hope of heaven awaits me.
