God is working ‘behind the scenes’ of our life

Dr. Heather Bozant Witcher
Clarion Herald, Young Adults

Hope. How often do we use that word in everyday conversations? My son often hopes for no rain, as it means he’ll be able to play on the playground. I often hope for an afternoon without tantrums. But how often do we really reflect on the meaning of one of the foremost theological virtues?

A few weeks ago, a verse from Romans popped up in my planner as one of the daily meditations. “For in this hope we are saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently” (Romans 8: 24-25).

Taken out of context, the verse might translate more easily into something like: hope for the things that you want, but don’t have, and you’ll receive them. If we look a little closely and place the verse back in the context of Romans, we realize that the hope being referred to is the hope of salvation or reconciliation or reunion with God in heaven. That is the hope by which we, as Catholics, are saved. And, it is an unseen hope.

What does that mean?

I’ve meditated a bit on this verse, linking hope to many aspects of our faith that require us to trust, believe and do so many things “unseen.” That is what makes living a faith-filled life difficult. Rarely are signs that we’re on the right path tangible. Burning bush moments are few and far between.

Hope, then, is a mindset and a state of being. It is an openness to the idea that God is working behind the scenes: working for his glory and the good and wellbeing of his followers. A hopeful mindset orients toward heaven, toward following God, but it also asks that we live a life of open expectation.

That’s where the second half of the Romans verse comes in: We dream and imagine and know that God sees and hears our heart’s desire. We know  that God works for the good of those who love and follow him. It’s very easy to become cynical and embittered, especially when, like Ruth, it seems we must wait so long in this expectation. But hope reminds us that when we live in anticipation that God will make positive things happen in our lives; they will happen (even if those “positives” aren’t exactly aligned with our own versions or our own plans).

Too often we might view God as passive – as someone who watches and listens – and when we fail to see action, we think he isn’t listening. But God is active. He made us to be dreamers and visionaries and out-of-the-box thinkers. God makes things happen.

I caught myself telling a friend about how I landed a tenure-track job just before COVID and just as I gave birth to twins. The world of academia is precarious and uncertain. And I found myself uttering the words, “I got lucky because the timing was right.” But it wasn’t luck. The timing was God’s; the glory is his.

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