In these uncertain times, the concept of hope becomes more crucial than ever. It is a powerful force, sustain life, even in the worst circumstances while the outcomes we hoped for are not guaranteed, the act of hoping itself is a testament to our resilience and strength.
Everything can be taken from a person, but one thing, the last of the human freedoms is to choose our attitude in any given set of circumstances. It is not contingent on external events, but rather on our internal resolve and perspective. Hope requires a desire for a specific outcome, a rejection of any other possibility, and a belief in the eventual realization of that hope.
There are a few days that go by without using the word hope. “I hope we’re on time, I hope it doesn’t rain, I hope they will understand, I hope God hears me.”
From the smallest concerns to the grandest ones, our lives are shaped, directed, motivated, and frustrated by hope. Everyone hangs their hope on something or someone. Everyone hopes their hope will come through. No one ever purposely hopes for what is hopeless. Everyone belongs to hope that’s for sure. Everyone gets up in the morning, motivated by hope in some kind of way or they’re paralyzed by hopelessness of some kind.
For every one of us, hoping it is so natural and frequent that we lose sight of how significant it is in shaping what we do, how we do it, and how we feel in the process. Even though it’s natural, and we do it all the time, hope is painfully elusive for many.
Hope always has three elements: desire, object, and expectation.
The Bible holds a narrative of hope shattered and hope restored.
Hope is always fueled by some form of desire. It may be a desire to be loved, to be cared for, to be protected, to be understood, to be provided for, to be accepted, to experience comfort, or pleasure, to have control, and to be forgiven -the list could go on and on. And hope always has an object. We always look for someone or something to satisfy our desires. Lastly, hope carries an expectation of when, how, and where the person or thing in which we have placed our hope will deliver what we have hoped for.
Almost every day, we trust our smallest and largest hopes into the hands of something or someone with the hope that our belongings will be satisfied.
The Bible holds a narrative of Hope shattered and hope restored, and in telling its hope story, the Bible speaks to each of the three elements of hope.
Scripture has much to say about our longings, the desires that inspire us and shape our lives. It tells us what to love and what to hate, what to desire, and what to forsake, what is good for us and what will harm us. Much of the drama of hope in our lives comes not because we don’t get what we hoped for, but because we spend so much of our time, hoping for the wrong things.
We live with a singleness of hope. Whether, it is life shaped, structured, and directed by the pursuit of being glorious or heart-satisfying. A worldly hope is a picture of a constantly changing narrative of fickle affections hurling us from one hope to the next.
I like to always keep in mind Psalm 27:4, during difficult circumstances. It says, “One thing I have asked of the Lord, that I will seek after, that I may dwell in the Lord’s house all the days of my life, to see the Lord’s beauty, and to inquire in His temple.” And Psalm 27:5 goes on to say, “For in. The day of trouble, He will keep me secretly in His pavilion. In the secret place of His tabernacle, He will hide me. He will lift me up on a rock.”
Those are incredible statements, one that I am not sure I can always make. These statements are even more powerful when we realize that it was written by a man who was under attack. His one thing isn’t safety, or vindication or victory. His one thing isn’t control or retribution. Even under personal duress, the one thing that David wishes for is to be in God’s house, taking in the splendor and glory of the beauty of the Lord.
This desire was designed to beat the central motoring desire of every person created by God and made in His image. And yet, on this side of eternity, it seems like a statement that could only ever be made a deeply devout human being.
And in every situation in the relationships of our everyday life, there is a war being fought on the turf of our hearts that controls our actions. Yet many things compete with us for what our heart craves.
The Bible also has much to say about the object of our hope. It reminds us that, when it comes to hope, there are only two places to look. We can look to created thngs to satisfy the longings of our hearts, or we can look to our Creator.
I think when it comes to a foundational, human hope, each of us looks either horizontally or vertically. The Bible warns us that if our hope disappoints us, it’s because our hope rests on the wrong object. There is only one place to look for hope that is secure, no matter what.
Here are a few scriptures I stand on in difficult circumstances
Psalm 119:114 says, “You are my hiding place, and my shield, I hope in Your Word.” And Psalm 130:7 says, “Hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love
Romans 5:5 “Hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
Scripture also speak to our expectations. It promises us that, when we hope in the Lord, we will not be disappointed. God won’t submit to our time expectations, and He won’t always deliver what we hoped for and the way we expect, but He will always care for those who trust in Him. He will give us everything He has promised us, and He will generously provide what is best for us. So, we can wait in patient expectation, knowing that our hope is firm when we hope in the Lord.
Many of us struggle with the questions of God’s goodness, faithfulness, and love, not because He has been unfaithful to any promise in any way, but because we simply are not on His agenda page. Our agenda, our definition of what is good, God should give us. James 1:2-4 tells us, “Count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”
The Bible is a message that is consistent. God is not working to deliver us from our personal definition of happiness. If we are not on that agenda page, we are going to be disappointed with God, and we’re going to wonder if He loves us. God is after something better, our holiness, the final completion of His redemptive work, which includes deep and abiding happiness with Him. The difficult physical face are not the way of God’s plan, they do not show the failure of God’s plan, and they are not signs He has turned His back on us. But God will use difficult times for His perfect plan.
It’s wonderful that we have hope that doesn’t rise and fall with our changing circumstances, it’s a sweet thing to have hope that doesn’t die when trouble comes. It’s good to be free from placing our hope in objects that have no power to deliver what we long for. And it’s wise to spend time examining what we hope for, reorienting our hope, and meditating on the one who alone is worthy of our hope.
From Pity to Praise 