Though it feels like we’ve been in election season for quite some time, we are in the thick of it now. Running mates have been chosen, battle lines have been drawn, debates have been planned, and ads are mercilessly running. And I’m sure as heated as opinions are right now, they will only become increasingly so in the next few months. Though there are a variety of issues at play, as there always are during seasons like these, elections are at least in part about hope.

Each candidate represents their plans for the future, and each voter must decide whose plans they believe in more. These plans are based in the reality of the present, and are promises about the future. It’s about hope – hope about what might be. What could be. If only their ticket is punched.

As I look at all the messages coming from various parts of the political spectrum, from all kinds of candidates and pundits, there’s a phrase that’s resonating with me more and more:

I need a better hope than that.

This isn’t a commentary about which party you should choose or how you should cast your vote, because in the end, no matter who we end up electing and who you individually hope for, the phrase remains true:

You need a better hope than that.

Because things happen. Unforeseen circumstances occur. Stuff comes up. And inevitably, many, if not most, of those promises aren’t going to come to fruition in the same way a candidate is promising. I think most of us understand that to a degree, but that still presses us to the same conclusion.

But it’s not just about the election. It’s not just about the candidates. It’s about everything. For surely, if we’ve learned nothing else in the past six months, we’ve learned something about the source of our hope. We’ve learned something about the shaky foundations in which we have put our faith, the people, institutions, and systems in which we have put our trust.

This is an uncomfortable reality, but nevertheless a good one. A refining one. We cannot place our hope in the economy. Or the government. Or the healthcare system. Or in the decision-making ability of leaders. Or in our own wisdom and knowledge. 

We need a better hope than that.

And by God’s grace, we have one. A living hope, in fact:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. You are being guarded by God’s power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. You rejoice in this, even though now for a short time, if necessary, you suffer grief in various trials so that the proven character of your faith—more valuable than gold which, though perishable, is refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him; though not seeing him now, you believe in him, and you rejoice with inexpressible and glorious joy, because you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:3-9).