Living with continual bad news as our world slides into the abyss—how do we stay above it all? Where’s the hope?
Great question, and here’s another: how did God intend for his people to find hope? Since this is God’s story, he must have had a plan, for his people in every era, to press on with hope.
Three answers overlap:
1) God himself is our hope. A deep abiding relationship with God, the living God who reveals himself in the Bible—this is sufficient hope. “Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken” Psalm 62:5-6.
2) God gave us his Word to fill us with hope.
Speaking at a luncheon last year, I told the hostess that I would be reciting a passage from Revelation. She confessed to me later that her first thought was, “This is going to be a downer.” To her surprise and delight I shared some of the most uplifting words in all of Scripture—Revelation 21-22. The apostle John was told, “Write this down for these words are trustworthy and true.” These are the final chapters of God’s story, the resolution to all the conflicts and hardships of the ages. We learn that the Lamb has overcome and now reigns victorious.
As the drama unfolds, we don’t know when the end will come, but we know who wins. Our hope in the midst of trouble lies in knowing that victory awaits us.
“For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope” Romans 15:4.
3) Hope comes from engaging in the cosmic war ourselves, not from sitting on the bleachers watching others battle it out. Seems counter-intuitive, doesn’t it?
When we experience God at work in us and through us, we experience hope.
Hope comes from being part of the small victories along the way, rescuing one soul at a time from the clutches of the enemy. When we point a struggling friend to the source of hope, our own hope swells.
God did not intend for us to wallow in the muck of a society running headlong into debauchery. He wants us filled with hope. As we shine our light we illuminate the narrow road that leads to life. Collectively we gain strength and hope as we work alongside others to advance God’s kingdom.
Where’s our hope in this discouraging world? We find it in a deep abiding relationship with God our Savior. Our hope grows as we store the truth of His Word in our hearts, and then share it one-by-one with those who have no hope.
“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” Romans 15:13.
I would love to hear your feedback on HOPE.
Thank you–you wrote this post for me! Been really struggling–heard of a dear friend who just died from a stroke. Another friend who lost a child to leukemia, and yet another who’s teen witnessed his friend be beaten and murdered. I really needed to be pointed back to our HOPE!
I need this reminder so often. Thank you for it. Keep giving it to us as much as you will. This continuous decline in our world and even just common sense is confusing and scary. Common sense doesn’t seem to be so common anymore. But, the darker the surroundings, the brighter the light.
Thanks so much for the encouragement. I’ve enjoyed your recent posts.
Praise God for hope. If it weren’t for this, we would only know utter despair. And we have hope because He lives, He came, He died, He rose and He reigns. Circumstances in our personal lives and world news may spin out of control, but our eyes are fixed on Jesus, the one who makes our faith perfect, because He alone is steadfast in chaos, trustworthy and true. Janet, thanks for citing the 3 great sources of our hope: God himself, God’s word, doing God’s work in this world. I am encouraged!
Hi Richie, Your words encourage me. Yes he lives, he came, he died, he rose, he reigns. Yay!
This “in-between” time is difficult, Paul tells us in Romans 8:24′ “We are saved by hope…” The hope is always there, because He is always there, saving us from despair. We need to remind ourselves and each other that “hope that is seen is not hope” so what we see now and what will be, are different things. Faithful thoughts believe God’s victory is already won, we’re just living the “here” to “there.” Very true, He is our hope!