Akin to that is the great fact of life that we are saved by hope from giving in.
For the great multitude of men hope lies at the back of perseverance.
That may not be true of elect natures.
It was not true of Marcus Aurelius, for instance.
Never was there a more hopeless man than he, yet how magnificently he persevered.
But for the rank and file of ordinary mortals on whom the Gospel always keeps its eye, hope is essential to holding on.
One thinks of the story of the little lame boy who was "hoping to have wings some day."
He could not race nor leap like other boys, but he was hoping to have wings some day.
It was that hope which helped him to endure and taught him to bear the burden of his lameness...
And so it is largely in this life of ours.
From giving in when things are very difficult...
From breaking down just at breaking point...
From losing heart when all the lights are dim and the clouds return after the rain...
in deep senses we are saved by hope.
~George H. Morrison~