"It's the Hope That Kills You"
While no one is quite sure who came up with this line, it has, in recent years, been brought back into the spotlight through the hit show Ted Lasso. It's the title and theme of Episode 10, Season 1, the season finale. I just happened to binge the whole of Season 1 while en route to Singapore in late December 2025, and, suffice it to say, this phrase has since stuck with me.
I brought it up a few weeks ago on the first Saturday of our final two-day cricket game, which was also the end of the season for us. I had come in to bat at number 5 late in the day, having spent most of the day fielding. We had bowled out the opposition earlier for 163, and then we'd lost 3 wickets for 49 runs. There were 5.1 overs left in the day.
My goal was simple: survive until the close of play, then come back the following week to continue the chase.
However, the opposition decided to try to make that as difficult a task as possible by bringing all their fielders in close to the bat. Initially, they stayed back somewhat respectfully, but then gradually, they crept in, until one of the guys had a helmet on and was barely off the pitch. There was a bit of friendly banter as ball, after ball, he kept creeping a little closer to try for a catch.
I remember my batting partner taking a single with three balls left to go in the day, and the spinner was bowling. I successfully navigated the first two balls, and then we were left with the final delivery of the day. The silly mid-off (name of the fielding position) had crept in the closest he had ever come. The spinner bowled a straight ball that I blocked a little too firmly. The silly mid-off lunged towards the ball, almost before I'd even hit it, and at full stretch, the ball evaded his upturned hand by barely an inch.
My heart was pounding! That had been way too close! He lay there in disbelief that he hadn't caught the ball. His teammates, especially those who had seen how close he'd come to catching me out, were not quite sure how to respond. There'd been so much hope for a final wicket before the end of the day, only for it to be dashed by the tightest of margins.
It's the hope that kills you.
I said as much to the fielder as we trudged off the field side by side – him shaking his head, while I tried to calm my pounding heart rate, thankful to know that I was coming back to bat the next week.
I am so grateful that I don't have to bear that same stress in thinking about the future. My hope in what Christ has accomplished through his death and resurrection is a sure hope. I don't have to ask, "Will I be able to do enough to survive?" because my salvation has nothing to do with my own merit.
I am saved…I am forgiven…I have a right relationship with God…I have an eternal future that is secure…all because of Jesus.
Mine is not a hope that kills.
It's a hope that saves.
Do you have the same hope?
