persevering hope, simply

I've tried over and over to write a commentary on "persevering hope," and I end up erasing everything. Basically, it comes down to what Isaac said ever so plainly—the world tells the story of despair, and hope is telling a different story. Hope is seeing what the world sees, and knowing that it isn't the end. It's seeing what the world sees and having a glimpse of who God is. When we know that God is, when we know that God loves, when we know that God saves...suddenly it's impossible to not persevere, because it goes against what we know to be true. Hope becomes part of who we are.

Charlie Hall has a song with the lyric, "This world is broken, yet beautifully made."

Despair says, "This world is broken," and just stops there.

Hope says, "Yet beautifully made," and rejoices in the Source of beauty.