​Hope

Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.  
1 Corinthians 13:13

Take a second and think of three things you truly hope for. What are they? Now, who or what are you depending on to see those things become reality for you? How confident are you that what you hope for will happen? 

The Bible speaks of hope quite a bit. In fact Paul lists it among the three greatest gifts the Spirit gives us – faith, hope, and love. But, there is a difference between the hope the Bible speaks of and the hope we talk about. For us hope often comes off as wishful thinking. I hope I win the lottery even though I know the chances are slim to none that I actually will. That kind of hope has very little to no confidence behind it. Partly because that hope is grounded in this world and depends on someone or something from this world to make it happen. 

The hope God talks about and that the Holy Spirit gives us is more than a wishful though. Biblical hope carries with it the idea of confident expectation. This kind of hope has an assurance about it. Romans 5:5 tells us the hope we get from God is a hope that does not disappoint. Now, that is the kind of hope we need. It is that kind of hope that gives life, energy, and motivation to keep striving forward.

The biggest reason for the confidence and assurance we have in this hope is that the source of this hope is beyond us. The source of this hope is trust worthy and dependable.  Jesus is our hope (1 Timothy 1:1). This hope doesn’t come from within us, it comes from Him. So, if we are lacking confidence in our hope the first thing we need to seriously consider is the source of our hope. Is our hope placed in the right place? Is it in Jesus?

Sometimes we grow frustrated in our hope because of what we are hoping for. Hoping to win the lottery is always going to be frustrating. So, what should we hope for? Should we hope for better? Should we hope for heaven? Absolutely.  Jesus said, in Revelation 21, that He is making all things new. That is what we can hope for – better and new things!  It is resurrection hope!

If you are feeling hopeless today, know you don’t have to stay that way.  Trust Jesus – He will give you hope!

​Pastor Matt