International Baptist Church of Düsseldorf

dlplife August 29th, 2007

Is hope discovered or invented? When lost must it be re-discovered or re-invented?

I think both. Let me explain.

We often seem to mix-up the two in daily speech. We accidentally say things like “Franklin invented electricity” or “Marconi discovered the radio.” To discover means to “un-cover” a truth that had been hidden – Franklin discovered electricity. To invent, means to use or apply the discovered truth in a new way – Marconi invented the radio. But the two are connected: discoveries lead to inventions that lead to more discoveries that lead to more inventions, and so on.

Adi Dassler was born the son of a common shoe-cobbler in Herzogenaurach, Germany. He followed in his father’s shoes, literally, but took the entire trade a few steps farther. In 1920 Adi did something that had not been done before. He began putting spikes on the soles of shoes for football and running, resulting in a new invention: the sports shoe. In 1936 when Jesse Owens won the gold medal at the Olympic games, he was wearing a pair of Adi’s shoes. Later Adi changed the company name to “Adidas,” from the syllables of his name. At the time of his death he owned over 700 patents on sports shoes and athletic equipment. He was the inventor of a multi-trillion Euro business today. Adidas is now the second largest sports shoe manufacturer and its headquarters are still located in Herzogenaurach.

Today we take sports shoes for granted, as we do with other modern inventions, but at one time someone took what they knew and applied it in a new way. The truth was there already, it just had to be discovered and applied.

In our daily walk with God hope must also be discovered and applied, when it is lost it must be re-discovered and re-applied. All of our spiritual discoveries are first gained as gifts from God, usually through someone else’s teaching: First, God reveals the truth and then we discover the truth, and then through faith we apply. God guides us through the process from discovering to applying, and applying results in more discovering, and so on.

The psalmist wrote of a time when his hope had been lost and needed to be re-discovered, when life needed to be re-invented within the hope of God. He thirsted for God, the living God, who alone could quench the longings of his soul. Like it is often with us, he could not really say exactly where it all went wrong; he merely knew that somewhere along his pilgrimage his hope had been lost and he wanted it back. He wrote: “My heart breaks when I remember the past, when I went with the crowds to the house of God and led them as they walked along, a happy crowd, singing and shouting praise to God. Why am I so sad? Why am I so troubled?” (Psalm 42:4-5, TEV) What could he do? He knew the truth, but knowledge was not the problem. Hope had been discovered, but it had to be re-applied, “re-invented” in his situation. He wrote, “I will put my hope in God, and once again I will praise him, my saviour and my God.”

Along our pilgrimage as Christians, our basis for hope must be re-discovered and through faith our hope must be re-invented in the midst of our current circumstances. We have never lived this day or this week or this year before. The past is merely a prelude for the future and today is the pivotal moment when we can and must re-interpret our situation in the light of God’s truth.

If we can re-discover and re-apply our hope today, we’ll run further and faster than a pair of Adidas could ever take us. To borrow from the prophet Isaiah, we will find our strength renewed, we will mount up with wings as eagles, we will run and not be weary, we will walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:31)

Applying:

1. Write down the six biggest challenges you are facing today in these categories: your thought life, relationships, career, health, family, and finances.
2. Jot down how they are different now from what you have faced before.
3. Using the concordance of your Bible, find a promise of God to match each unique challenge you are facing today.
4. Meditate this week on these truths.

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