To Build Hope Into Our Lives, We Need To Be More Like Barbeque Ribs

Discover a Faith That Sticks—How Real Hope Grows in Community and Stands the Test of Life

Hope is one of those funny words. Not funny ha-ha, but funny different. Why? Because everyone can agree on how to pronounce and spell the word hope. But when it comes to explaining it, we have wildly different ideas. So what exactly is hope?

People have lots of different ideas about hope and different ways we express it. We hope it doesn’t rain. We hope to get the new job. We hope to get home in time to watch the game, to lose weight, that our kids turn out alright and that the test comes back negative.

For most people on planet earth, hope is out there somewhere. You can’t touch it. It doesn’t have any shape or substance. Hope is whatever I want to make it. Most people would say that they “feel” hope. They don’t know hope. For some, it’s hard to see where hope ends and fantasy begins.

Empty Calorie Hope

Many have what I call “cotton candy hope.” It’s  nothing more than sugar that’s been spun into very thin threads. But these strands of sugar aren’t in any particular kind of order. They are a jumbled mess – mostly empty air with this thin spiderweb of sugar. It can’t hold up anything. It can’t support anyone.

The big thing about cotton candy hope is that when you take a bite, it just melts in your mouth. Yes, it’s sweet for a second, but then it’s gone in an instant. The only thing that’s left is a sticky, gooey film in your mouth and an empty feeling in the pit of your gut.

Cotton candy hope looks pretty and tastes sweet. It appears to sparkle in the sunlight. But when it comes to life in the fast lane of the 21 st century, it just can’t stand up to the pain and pressures of daily life. It leaves us empty, powerless, and disappointed.

It’s like all those images of kitty cats that you find on the internet. Yes, they’re cute. Yes, they can bring a smile for a second. Yes, people make millions of dollars with them. But try using that kind of cotton candy hope when the bottom drops out of your life. Your life and emotions will melt like cotton candy in your mouths, leaving you empty, disappointed. Hopeless.

As I write these words, a dear friend is undergoing open heart surgery. Three days ago she experienced severe chest pains. Tests revealed a heart attack, three blocked arteries and a leaky valve. Today, they’ve cracked her chest and harvested blood vessels to bypass the blockages that were too serious for stints. Her family doesn’t know if she survived the procedure, or if there will be any complications.

Cotton candy hope isn’t what she and her family need. They need a hope that can stand up to the stress of life and death decisions. A hope that doesn’t disappoint. A hope that doesn’t move around. A hope that will be with them no matter what happens.

You, me, this family, need a hope that’s as solid as the concrete beneath our feet. A hope that we can walk on with confidence. A solid rock hope that we can build a life on.

But how do we find this kind of hope? Where do we get it? And most importantly, how can we keep it?

Hope Defined

There are tons of definitions for hope all across the landscape. Some are better than others. I’m partial to mine (imagine that.) Here it is:

Maybe you were expecting something bigger. Longer. Something that used great big words. A definition that would make you stand up and shout. Well, I could have come up with something like that, but I want you to understand what hope is. I’m not trying to impress you or to force you to use your online dictionary to figure it out.

Hope is making daily decisions with your words, thoughts, actions, and attitudes based on looking forward. Hope is always looking forward. It always looks to the future. And while hope is always directed to the future, it’s hardwired into our moment-by-moment choices.

Think about hope like a sailboat. When we untie the boat, we’re immediately on a voyage. We raise and lower the sails to move forward. We move the rudder to change direction. But all of this is to get somewhere. There’s a destination where we want to go.

Hope: living today while facing and welcoming tomorrow

As we’re on our voyage, the wind changes direction and force. The tide come in and out. Waves pound the hull. Other boats block our way. So, when all these things and more happen every day, we have a choice to keep our eyes on the destination. To stay on course.

But the secret ingredient for hope is to face and welcome tomorrow. We all face tomorrow. We can try and hide from it. We can do everything in our power to ignore it.

But tomorrow is coming and there’s absolutely nothing we can do to stop it. The difference is whether we’re going to welcome it. Do we look forward to the future with fear or faith. If God is who He says He is, then our future is secure in Jesus Christ.

When Jesus died on the cross, he made the one-time payment for all our sins: past, present, and future. Like the old hymn says, “I am His and He is mine.” We are His and He is ours. Today. Tomorrow. Into all eternity, and never interrupted.

Yes, there are lots of different kinds of hope out there. The landscape is littered with them. But the hope that God gives through faith in Jesus is something very different. It’s not just a hope, but The Hope. 

and the God of the hope shall fill you with all joy and peace in the believing, for your abounding in the hope in power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13 YLT

The kind of hope that God offers is not cotton candy hope. Not on your life. It’s not full of empty promises. It’s stronger than the roof over your head that you trust to protect you from the rain, wind, and hail.

And this is no empty hope, for God himself is the one who has prepared us for this wonderful destiny. And to confirm this promise, he has given us the Holy Spirit, like an engagement ring, as a guarantee. 2 Corinthians 5:5 TPT

As you can see, God’s kind of hope is more certain than the hope that the sun will rise tomorrow. It’s not an empty, cotton candy kind of hope, but a solid hope that we can bet our lives and everyone that we hold dear. A hope that never disappoints. But how do we find and grow this kind of hope?

Hope Illustrated

I’ll tell you where you find it. It’s in a rack of lip-smacking barbeque ribs. The very name “ribs” says a lot. You don’t order a rib, you order ribs. Whether it’s at the meat market, grocery store, restaurant, or roadside stand. It’s always ribs. No one in their right mind orders a single, solitary rib. It’s always plural.

Ribs come into this world as a community. They are always ribs. They are always in a group. Not only are they together in the animal, but they are also cooked together and come to the table together. You don’t think about a single rib. You always think of them as a group—as a slab of ribs – a mess of ribs. Ribs are:

• Side by side with one another.

• Support one another.

• Stand together with one another.

Ribs are there for one another. They’ve never known anything else. From their earliest days in their mother’s womb, it’s been this way. Their entire existence, their entire life, has been as a community. As a group. As a whole.

Hope is like that too. To have hope, you need to have other people standing side-by-side with you. You need more than just a someone, you need a team supporting you. You need hopeful people on both sides. Encouraging you.

But it’s not a one-way relationship. To receive hope, you must also give hope. You need to be with other people, side by side with them. You need to support each other in hope.

You need to stand together with people.

So who are the people in your life, your community that are willing to stand with you, side-by-side, enjoying life’s pleasures and enduring life’s pain along side you?

Starting today, be like ribs with the people around you. Lining up with them, giving help, support, and hope. And before you know it, you’ll be on the receiving side of hope too.