“The most important thing about you is what you think about when you think about God”. Those words have followed me since my freshman year of college when a professor stated them for the class to digest. Thoughts influence actions, and as an image bearer, my thoughts should be reflective of His. This summer, the theme was “Engage Hope,” so I was obviously challenged to think about hope from God’s perspective.
When I look back on my journaled prayers from this past summer, I see a thread running through them showing my growth in understanding and responsiveness to hope. God has worked (and is still working!) on renewing my mind to reflect His with a fuller understanding of hope that originates and is exemplified through Him. As I entered into situations and interactions that stretched me through my time on the road with Know Sweat, I was challenged to pursue God’s heart and submit to transformation and refinement. To Engage Hope means to recognize and accept His love for me (and others) and act in response to that love. As I thought about God, it became clear to me that a key component of my refinement would be to embody the kind of hope exemplified through Christ.
This year Know Sweat focused on equipping and encouraging participants to be Kingdom Workers that engage the hope that comes from God. Each evening in Connection, students were challenged to write out ways they are currently and/or could be Kingdom Workers not only during the week of Know Sweat but when they returned to their homes, schools, and communities. I loved reading their responses. Hanging from clothespins were KW ideas ranging from “Clean up the dishes for my mom” to “volunteer at a soup kitchen” to “tell others in my school that they can have hope in God.” My heart was happy as I read their responses and I remembered the call to have faith like a child. Abandoning the constraints of middle school and high school societal expectations, ideas of how to engage hope (even if it might not be viewed as “cool”) flowed from the KS participants across the United States. It was awesome to see the youth realize that they, middle school and high school students, could actively engage hope, not only at Know Sweat, but when they went home. Their words expressed an understanding that God wants people to know Him and His heart for all of His creation. To Engage Hope means responding through my actions in light of what God has done. As I thought about God, I thought of His ultimate sacrifice.
As I asked to experience, understand, and share the hope that I have in and because of God (a hope that is confident, certain, and eternal), I was challenged. Through repeatedly looking at the text of 1 Peter, praying through it, and being honest about how I use and currently understand the word “hope,” I began to see a bigger picture. Add to that my daily perspective from the pick-up as I visited the KS service sites, and the picture kept getting bigger. It finally hit me that as I was in full pursuit of understanding “hope,” I was in fact being pursued as well. Through my pursuit of hope I was being equipped to Engage Hope through sharing about the one who pursues me. When I thought about God, I saw His persistent love for His creation and His desire to equip them to share His Gospel.
Daily, I rode in the pick-up truck to the worksites; daily I saw neglect: neglected homes, neglected communities, and neglected individuals. I was tempted at times to feel “hopeless” as I became overwhelmed with not only the physical task at hand, but the indications of spiritual depravity as well. However, God reminded me that nothing and no one is beyond redemption. As I engaged with His heart, the eyes of my heart were opened, and I saw deeper than exteriors. I saw the neglected experiencing transformation. Groups had traveled from all over the US to actively engage hope through service. When I thought about God, I saw his heart for those that were far from him, the poor, the widow, the orphan – and I was filled with hope. As I observed the completion of the work projects each week, I was able to see that God’s hope was being tangibly lived out through the groups and that a taste of it had been experienced by the recipients. When I thought about God, I thought about His power, presence, and redemption.
This summer I learned anew that we have hope in a God that is calling us to himself. In light of that, I know that I am being equipped through pursuit and refinement to engage that hope by sharing it and actively living it out.
The summer season has come to an end for Know Sweat; participants from each week have left and returned to their everyday lives, currently gearing up for a new school year. As they enter back into their daily routines, I pray that when they think about hope, they know that it comes from God and is confident, certain and eternal.
Please continue to pray for the students that participated in each week of Know Sweat. Pray that they may continue to experience and see the hope of God and carry that hope to others in their lives.