Hope, a word we use so often that it is almost meaningless. We hope for a raise at work. We hope we get to work on time. We hope our team wins. We hope we can lose weight, and on and on it goes. I’ve even heard people say I hope to get to Heaven. The dictionary defines hope as a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen. The way we most often think of hope is nothing more than wishful thinking. Wanting something to happen without any basis for the success of it happening. Many people handle their eternity with the same measure of hopefulness that others handle the hope of getting a certain gift for Christmas.
Hope from a Biblical perspective is a belief grounded in faith and based upon the promises of a God who never lies. This hope does not disappoint us because God has poured out His love in our hearts. Our hope is based on God’s word and the person of Jesus Christ. We can look at the promises God made to those in the Bible and see that He always keeps his promises. We can see the hope of His saints turn into reality.
Romans 5:3-5 “ And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”
Paul reminds us in Romans 5:3-5, that we can always have something to rejoice about and hope for in any situation, because of where our hope is placed. Hope is the key element. It gets us from point A to point B. Knowing the word and understanding it gives us this hope. It is our hope resting firmly in Jesus because of our faith.
So, how does this hope exhibit itself when things are going bad? Christians can rejoice in the middle of persecution because of hope in Christ. It is not a hope that is misplaced and wishful. It is a “know-so” hope. Our creator has promised us eternal life if we will place our faith in him for salvation. He has promised he will always be with us, and that brings peace and comfort to our soul which encourages our hope.
James chapter 1 says something similar. We are to count it a joy to suffer for Christ because we know that the testing of our faith yields patience to endure or persevere.
James 1:2-3 “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.”
Both Paul and James knew that a byproduct of suffering at the hand of this world was perseverance. Perseverance is a mixture of patience and experience because of the hope we have in Christ. Biblical hope allows us to keep going when everything around us is falling apart because we know our hope is in the one who has the power to answer our prayers and meet our needs. He has the power to fill us with a deep-seated joy as we place our trust in Him. This will allow us to overflow with hope. In Romans 15:13, we are told that our joy and believing will not just give us hope, but that we will abound in hope!
Romans 15:13 “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.”
What do we do when it seems we are losing our hope? We cry out like the Psalmist in Psalm 42:5. He was distraught, but he knew the answer was to look expectantly, with hope, to the Lord for his deliverance, and trust God to bring it to pass.
Psalm 42:5 “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.”
Paul reminds us to keep our hope in Christ because with him we are more than conquerors through Jesus Christ. We don’t have to live downhearted and in despair. We can have hope that exceeds all other hope because we know the end of the story. One day our hope in eternal life will be realized forever. So, keep on hoping no matter what you are facing. Your hope is not misplaced or wishful thinking when it is in the one who has power over everything.
Romans 8:37 “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.”
