“Hope”… the word has had an increased exposure and has been used in our society to symbolize many different things. Having hope is very important to all of us. It is said that a person with no hope is truly someone who lives a miserable existence. Our hopes and dreams for the future fuel our lives and energize us, they speak to us about what could be possible and help us to endure the tough seasons that life brings us. One dictionary definition of hope is “a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen”. I don’t think that the dictionary definition is a bad one, it certainly captures what most of us feel about hope, however, I think the best way to discover truth about this or any other subject is to find it in God’s Word.
Biblical “hope” as described once by a teacher that I had in Bible School, is a “confident expectation”. This is very different than the everyday hope that most people experience. Everyday, common, hope says, “I hope this changes”, but doesn’t really know whether or not it will. It is a desire but it is void of a solid faith in God that brings a confident expectation. When you know what God’s Word says about something, you know what His will is, when you know His will for you, you can begin to have faith in Him, trusting Him in your circumstance. Hope added to your faith says, “I know that my circumstances haven’t changed yet, but I have prayed and spoken God’s Word and I have hope for the future. You have confident expectation that in the future you will see with your eyes what you have seen and counted as done in your heart.
Abraham is the best example of Biblical hope because during his walk with God, he faced great challenges and was given great promises by God in the midst of his circumstances. Abraham was promised an heir and God said that he would have an heir and not only that but that this heir would be the beginning of a line of descendants that would be as numerous as the stars in the sky. This was a lot for Abraham to believe since he and his wife Sarah were way beyond child bearing years. But the end of the story is that Abraham believed God, had faith in His promise and it all happened just as God said. But the scripture that illustrates the power of Biblical hope is in Romans 4:18. There is a statement that says Abraham “contrary to hope, in hope believed”. Abraham without supernatural help had no hope, but with God he had a “confident expectation” for the future.
There will be many times in your life when it looks like there isn’t a reason to have hope for the future and without God you would be right. But if you will find out what God has promised, believe His Word, speak it over your life you will have great reason to hope for the future, you will have the best kind of hope - Bible hope, a confident expectation that what you are believing will come to pass!
