In Deo Speramus

 

Last weekend, we traveled to Providence, Rhode Island, to attend our relative’s graduation ceremony at Brown University. I will never forget the sound of bells and bands filling the air of the campus. Seeing proud parents and family members awaiting the entry of their beaming graduate sons and daughters was something to behold. After everyone took their seats, we spent the remainder of the ceremony listening to a number of invigorating speeches. It was a full day event unlike any grad ceremony I’ve attended in the past.

The keynote speaker for the ceremony was US Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi. Amid several years of pandemic, war, and gun violence, Pelosi called on students to “hold on to your hope” rather than descend into “apathy and despair”. Her theme reminded me of Brown University’s foundational motto inscribed on the school’s historical Van Wickle gate, In Deo Speramus, Latin for “In God We Hope”. Can you think of time in your life when you descended into apathy and despair? Dear friend, hope is found where it has always been – in the Triune God who created the universe. This is why the Psalmist writes, “And now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in You" (Psalm 39:7). The writer of Hebrews tells us that “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure …” (Hebrews 6:19). 

The good news is that Jesus is the living and eternal hope for humanity. He is the anchor for your soul, firm and secure. Why? For in Christ we see God Himself who took on human flesh, died the death that we deserved, and was raised on the third day so that He could rescue us, free us from the grip of sin, give us a new heart, and grant us eternal life. In this sense, the best and only way to “hold to your hope”, as Pelosi put it, is to trust in the God of hope.

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope." Romans 15:13