Hope

We live in a sinful and troubled

world filled with sinful and troubled people.
Most of those people live their lives in
darkness and despair, struggling day after
day wishing there was a light at the end of
the tunnel that wasnt going to turn out to
be the train coming at them. They are
looking for a shred of hope, something that
we have in abundance.

need both? Paul, in 1 Corinthians 13, said

that faith, hope, and love would remain
when everything else was done. The
difference is in our mind and soul.
According to Ravi Zacharias, faith is
intellectual trust, and hope is emotional
trust. We think about it and choose to have
faith. But hope is the emotional attitude
that comes with that trust.

What is hope?

How do we get hope?

Last week we looked at faith. We

learned that faith is trust. We saw that
trust itself is not as important as who we
trust. We learned that our faith must be in
God.
Now we will look at faiths
counterpart, hope.

Remember the person you thought

about during the faith session, the one
whose faith inspires you? That person went
through some difficult times, and yet, they
trusted God. They had hope that, in the
end, God would make everything right.
Sometimes their example drives us to want
to be like them and rise through our
difficulties on wings of faith.
But,
sometimes we think that they naturally had
great faith, that God just gave them more,
and we can never be that strong. That is
probably what they thought sometimes,
when they looked at their heroes.

Miriam Websters online dictionary

defines hope as a desire with the
expectation of fulfillment. It also defines it
as trust. The Bible uses several words that
are translated as hope. The Old Testament
uses several different words. They refer to
trust and expectation. One in particular is
used only three times in Proverbs (23:18,
24:14, and 24:20). It is translated as future
hope, and it can mean destiny or reward. In
the New Testament, the primary words
used refer to an attitude of certainty that
we will receive something good.
If faith and hope are both defined as
trust, what is the difference? Why do we

The truth is, at the beginning, their

hope was much like ours; sometimes strong
and pulsing, other times weak and fragile.
And throughout their lives, their emotions
changed and they felt more or less hope
depending on their emotions. But, if we
could look deep down, we would see, under
all the emotional turmoil, a foundation of

hope that all of Gods children, all those

who trust Jesus, have. As they grew in
spiritual maturity, they learned to stand on
that foundation of hope.
It should be no surprise that this
world has many troubles. Crime, money,
relationship, and health problems are just a
partial list of the difficulties we may
encounter in our lives. Is it any wonder
people have become cynical and hopeless.
Yet, many people believe that when they
become Christians, their lives were
supposed to become easy, their troubles
vanish, and their lives become perfect. And
when they find out otherwise, their faith
and hope are shattered.
Jesus never said that He came to
remove our suffering in this world. In fact,
He said in John 16:33 that we would have
troubles in this world. He also told us that
people who hate Him will hate us and
persecute us (John 15:18-20). But He also
said that we are blessed if we suffer for His
sake, and that we should rejoice (Matthew
5:11-12). That sounds very strange that we
should be happy that we suffer. But it is the
way He created us. We grow through
suffering.
Read Romans 5:1-5.
Read James1:2-4.
Here we see that hope and faith
grow through trials and troubles. We are
born in pain. We suffer growing pains. We
learn to ride a bike though skinned knees.
We grow stronger through workouts. So it
is with faith and hope. But our trust must

be directed to the only one who can and

will help us all our troubles.
Read Psalm 25:1-3.
Read Acts 4:12.
We must trust God and in the name
of Jesus Christ. There is no other that can
save us. As we trust Him, we will find that
He is trustworthy. Our faith and hope will
grow. We will trust in Him more and more,
as we grow through those pains.

God is faithful.
As I write this, I must confess that I
struggle with maintaining hope sometimes.
My wife has cancer, and it is very difficult to
watch her go through it day after day. It
breaks my heart and I want God to just go
ahead and heal her. I have struggled with
Him because I know He can, but He has
chosen not to. We live with the very real
possibility that, if the cancer is not
destroyed from her body, she could die
within the next few years. I dont want to
lose her here. I know many of Gods
promises, and I know what He promises for
us after we die, but I struggle with my lack
of trust in Him during this time in this
world. I do not want you to be ignorant and
think that I am greater than I am. I am
learning to trust Him one day at a time, the
same as each of you, because He is worthy
of our trust.
God is faithful (remember that
faithful means trustworthy). He is always
faithful. He never changes. He has been

the same from before He created the

universe and He will be the same for all of
eternity. He doesnt change His mind. He
keeps His promises. In everything He does,
He is faithful and does nothing wrong. This
is who He is, and above all, God is faithful to
Himself. Even if we are not faithful, He is
(Romans 3:3-4).
What is God doing and what are
some of the promises that He has made?
He has promised to strengthen and protect
us (2 Thessalonians 3:3). He will not stop
working to make us the perfect people He
created us to be (Philippians 1:6). He does
not leave us to struggle alone with
temptation, but He provides us a way to
avoid sin (1 Corinthians 10:13). Even if we
do sin, He will forgive us when we confess
(1 John 1:9). He will never leave us; He is
always with us (Matthew 28:20).
When we die, we are immediately
brought into the presence of Jesus (Luke
23:43, Philippians 1:23). Jesus is coming
back to get us (John 14:2-3), and then He
will come back to rule the world, having
destroyed sin and death (Revelation 21-22).
We will be given a new body that will not
suffer sickness and death, but that is
glorious and powerful (1 Corinthians 15:4244).
Jesus understands what we are
going through. He was a man of sorrows,
and familiar with suffering (Isaiah 53:3).
He was tempted in every way we are
tempted, but He did not sin (Hebrews 4:15).
Now, He speaks to God on our behalf as our

high priest. He has given us the Holy Spirit

to comfort and guide us. And in times we
dont know what to pray for, the Spirit
prays for us (Romans 8:26-27).

What are we to do?

What is our role in times of
suffering? We are to look to Jesus who, for
the hope (He had not yet received the glory
He knew He would have), suffered death in
order to give us life (Hebrews 12:2-3). We
are to be courageous and hold on to this
hope (Hebrews 3:6). We are to keep on
doing good (I Peter 4:19). And we are to
comfort others with the comfort God has
given us (2 Corinthians 1:3-4). If we trust
God during times of trouble, and place our
hope in Him, He will perfect us, removing all
impurities, until we are exactly who He
made us to be.
Further Reading:
-

Psalm 111, 25, 33, 146

Eph 5:15-20
Rom 4:18-21

All praises to God our Father and the Lord

Jesus Christ.