“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” (Romans 15:13)

The Bible has a lot to say about hope—I think that most people understand that the type of hope the scriptures talk about isn’t the tentative, “I sure hope so!” type of hope.  Instead, when we read about the “hope” of our salvation, it is the calm assurance that God will accomplish all that He has promised for those who believe in Him.

We can see a contrast of hopes in the life of Abraham:

“In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, ‘So shall your offspring be.’  He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb.  No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.” (Romans 4:18-21)

There are two important aspects of God-inspired hope:

1. Jesus is to be the center and the focus of our hope;

“For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.” (1 Timothy 4:10)

2. And His return to earth to gather to Himself those who have renounced the kingdom of this world in exchange for kingdom of our God.

“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness….” (Titus 2:11-14)

There is substance to our hope because the Bible is full of God’s promises:  “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence, by which He has granted to us His precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.” (2 Peter 1:3-4)

In Jesus, God has granted to us everything necessary for our physical lives and spiritual growth, but sometimes it doesn’t feel like it.  Sometimes our hope is misplaced.  Sometimes we experience grievous disappointment.  Sometimes we don’t get the response from heaven that we are hoping for.  Sometimes our souls are wounded by the actions of others.  There are so many ways that our hope in the love and faithfulness of God, and our faith in the redemptive work of Jesus are challenged—and that is a good thing! …because God allows life’s challenges and disappointments to help us to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ.

“…having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.  And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.  Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” (Romans 5:1-5)

Like most people, I have experienced disappointments and heartbreaks.  Christians do not have a free pass that exempts us from pain, illness, loss of a job, death of a love one or death of a dream, abuse, or divorce (or the myriad of other life situations that seem to overwhelm us sometimes).  I have not always responded nobly or in faith to the one who loves me best.  But because He loves us; because He promises to never leave us nor forsake us, His gentle Holy Spirit woos us back into relationship with the Savior.  The Comforter comforts.  The truth bearer convicts and convinces—and by His power and incomprehensible grace, hope—God ignited hope—abounds in us.

Yet we have an enemy who seeks to cut our ties and destroy our intimacy with Jesus—one way he does that is to destroy hope in our hearts.  Lest there be any question about his motives, scripture reminds us that satan and his demon forces seek to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10).   Two strategies the enemy used when confronting Jesus in the wilderness was to question His identity and to dispute God’s word.  No doubt those are a couple of the tactics he will attempt to use against us.

So, we need to keep hope engaged – there are several ways to do that:

• Keep our focus on Jesus.

“…let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.”  (Hebrew 12:1-3)

• Stay in the Word; let it permeate our souls and our spirits.

“For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.” (Romans 15:4)

• Worship God!

“No distrust made him [Abraham] waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what He had promised.” (Romans 15:20-21)

• Walk (live) in the power and grace of the Holy Spirit.

“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13)

“For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness.” (Galatians 5:5)

“If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:25)