When Hope Breaks Through
It’s amazing how something so familiar can become so misunderstood.
Although the concept of hope is mentioned over 125 times in Scripture, we so often misconstrue what hope actually is. We say things like, “I hope it doesn’t rain today,” or, “I hope my team wins.” When we think about hope this way, we fail to experience the fullest degree of the tremendous impact that hope can have on our lives.
The reality is that when we think about hope this way, we’re only holding one piece of the puzzle. Hope is not desire alone. Hoping and wishing are not synonymous. Hope is not simply blind optimism or positive thinking in the face of obstacles – hope is always accompanied by the belief that a certain outcome will take place.
If you look up hope in the dictionary, you’ll learn that hope is defined by both desire and expectation. In Hebrews 11:1 (NLT), we read, “Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.” As followers of Jesus, we cannot remove assurance from hope. When we do, we’re belittling one of the greatest gifts that God has given us as his children.
We also often fail to recognize the noticeable impact that hope in future circumstances can have on the here and now. If you’ve been following our recent Sermon on the Mount blog series, you know that Jesus cares deeply about how we see the world. He knows that our beliefs influence our actions. When we hope for a particular outcome, and when that hope is accompanied by the belief that this outcome will certainly take place, it impacts the way we live in the here and now.
For this reason, I’m more convinced than ever that our world needs hope. Not just a regular, everyday hope – but a supernatural hope that brings redemption and righteousness into a broken world.
So many people in today’s world live without hope. We look around and see destruction and disarray. We witness school shootings where the most vulnerable in our society are victimized and unable to protect themselves. For my local community in Iowa, we saw an unthinkable event like this happen in our own backyard earlier this week. We constantly witness name-calling, hatred, and unimaginable acts of violence.
“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life.” – Proverbs 13:12, NLT
As followers of Jesus, these events sadden us, but they don’t surprise us. In Matthew 24, Jesus warned us that trials such as these were coming. As long as lawlessness abounds in our fallen world, these days will come. Love will continue to grow cold, and our already abundant need for God’s love to fill our hearts will continue to exponentially grow.
We must allow our hearts to be filled with God’s hope once again. We must resist the temptation to give into the same anger and despair that so many around us are experiencing. Instead, we constantly reflect on the tremendous mercy and grace shown to us by Jesus on the cross, and the overwhelming power of the Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives. People and society may let us down, but God’s eternal plan for his people remains.
When you put your hope in the King of Glory, you will never be disappointed. Don’t let this hope be taken from you. Continue to spend time daily in God’s presence, and pray that others will find their way back to God as well. We will forever have access to unlimited hope in Jesus.
”For ‘whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’” Romans 10:13, NKJV