Hope.
Biblical hope is the confident expectation of what He has promised and its strength is found in His faithfulness.
The world defines hope as a feeling or desire for certain things to happen.
In comparison, they both are built on expectations, but when we view it from His standards, we have a foundation of trust and a relationship that His Word is Truth and when we have belief in that Truth, we know it will come to happen. Whether we see it during our time here on earth or we may not see it until we are in heaven, we know His Word is Truth.
As a believer, I have found myself at a war with hope many times. Trusting His Word to be true, but forgetting that I have to trust in His timing has caused me to doubt and caused my relationship with Him to suffer many times. Many times I have fell to my own emotions because I let my feelings override His Truth. I have let my desire to control the situation override His purpose and will in the situation and because I lost biblical hope, I have suffered and brought consequences to myself and others.
I am a work in progress and as much as I learn, I still struggle. This is just the truth of my story, plain and simple.
Psalm 42:5 says, "Why are you downcast, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? HOPE IN GOD; for I shall again praise Him, my salvation and my God." (ESV)
When we do not place our hope in Him, the promise of our salvation and in His Truth, we find ourselves falling victim to our feelings and emotions and many times the enemy quietly slips in and uses what we feel against us. We are human and we are not perfect. I believe that we have to process and work through our feelings and emotions, but when we do this without seeking Him, resting in His promises and being in His Word, we can fall deeper into despair and not find the hope that He has so willingly given to us.
Psalm 25:4-5 says, "Make me to know Your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your Truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; for You I wait all the day long." (ESV)
His Way. His Truth. His path for our life. All of these things are paramount in the life of a believer. Because He has given us free will, we sometimes make decisions to go off of His path and into a wilderness, but it is when we begin to seek and study His Truth and remind ourselves of His promises, we can find our way back to the narrow path of His purpose and plan.
As believers, we are not promised an easy road. Life is full of trials and tribulations, but it is in those times, we must trust that He has a plan and purpose for us and use them as a time of refinement.
To be hopeless is to be in despair, BUT to have hope in our times of despair, is to be free from the bondage that disparity causes and to use that time to grow into a deeper relationship with Him.
Hebrews 11:1 says, "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." (ESV)
It can be difficult to hope when we are hurting, struggling, confused...BUT that is where our faith needs to be the deepest. We may not know the outcome, but we must trust the process and must trust that His promises are true. I think Isaiah gives us one of the most powerful verses to cling to in times where we begin to struggle with having hope.
Isaiah 40:31 proclaims, "but they who WAIT for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and NOT BE WEARY; they shall walk and not faint."
Wait on the Lord and He will renew our strength in these times of losing hope. We will be able to continue to run the race and because we are trusting in Him, because we are in His Word and because we are running on the path He has given us, we will not grow weary in our pain and suffering, but be able to continue on until He brings to fruition, what it is we are hoping for.
We can always have hope that our salvation has given us everlasting life. We can always have hope in His love, grace and mercy for us. We can always have hope that He will work all things together for HIs good and that even if we don't always see that here in our time on earth, it will all make sense when we sit with Him in heaven one day.
