On Hope

Hope is a small and unassuming word, but it holds great vision.  As humans in time, the thought of the future is never far from our minds – we are always looking ahead to what is beyond our vision, forming expectations of what may happen.  Hope is the confident expectation of good.  It is concerned with desires as yet unfulfilled, for once the object hoped for is achieved, hope disappears – no one has hope about yesterday.  If life was already perfect, we would have nothing to hope for.

But as we all know, life is not perfect, so hope remains.  It is such a simple thing, yet what a profound impact it has on our lives!  It is the root of joy, which, notably, is defined as the emotion of expected good.  Indeed, the realization that greater good is yet to come is the only way to have joy that endures through trial – evil cannot deeply distress us because we know that it will not last.  Hope is the energy of patience, giving us the ability to wait as long as necessary for the end we seek.  It is the fuel of prayer, letting us confidently come to our all-powerful Father, fully expecting Him to do good for us.  The more we hope, the more we will ask.

For the child of God, hope can never vanish entirely – we know ultimate perfection is coming, and that motivates us to continue faithfully in the present imperfection.  But even with the hope of heaven, at times when things look impossible, earthly hope may sometimes slip away from us.  With it goes our joy, patience, endurance in prayer . . . and fear creeps in instead.  Fear, the expectation of evil, is the polar opposite of hope.  Our hope will quickly dissolve into fear when it is founded on anything short of God Himself, the Author of all good.

True hope comes from knowing who God is.  It is confidence in God’s goodness, the knowledge that He will bring about the best in His perfect time.  When we face something that seems completely insurmountable, it can be tempting to give up all hope but the glimmer of eternity beyond; yet good may be found in this life – “I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living (Psalm 27:13).”  Hope in God’s faithfulness is never unfounded, not in this life or the next!

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you . . . We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. . . . But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. And now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in You. No one whose hope is in You will ever be put to shame . . .

(Rom. 15:13, Eph. 1:18, Heb. 6:19, Rom. 8:25, 5:5, Ps. 39:7, 25:3)