I have been writing about hope for almost two years now and I realized that I have never defined it. Have you ever hoped for something and it did not happen? I have. Is hope just wishful thinking? Is it like I hope it does not rain on my birthday because I am having an outdoor party? Is hope really more than that? Is there anything that you hope for that you are confident will happen or has happened? I have. Let me show you what I have learned about what hope is in my life.
As my wife Laura struggled with mental illness, I needed to learn more a bout hope. I saw my wife struggle daily with hopelessness. She really did not believe that there was anything to hope for in the future. She had always wanted to be a mom and we could not have children. She hoped to get satisfaction from her work but did not so she became hopeless in that area of her life. She tried to get hope from her faith in God but she wrongly thought that God did not love her so she lost hope. After four attempts to committed suicide, she was successful with her fifth attempt. All these attempts occurred I believe because she was feeling hopeless.
The first thing that I learned that hope is more than wishful thinking. The hope that Laura needed is the kind of hope that comes only from God. This is the kind of hope that I have been writing about for nearly two years. It is the only true hope. It is the only hope in which we can be confident will actually happen.
The first thing I learned was that hope is not just wishful thinking it is something we can be confident will occur because it is a gift from God. 1 Peter 1:3 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,” (ESV)
Next, I found that there are seven things that I can have hope in: the hope of adoption, the hope of Christ’s return, the hope of resurrection, the hope of bodily redemption, the hope of salvation, the hope of eternal life, and the hope of glory. God promises that I have been adopted into His family I am now His child and therefore heir. Romans 8:16-17 says, “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.” (ESV) I am confident that Christ will return because He said He will. “Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” Matthew 24:44 (ESV) I know that I will be raised from the dead if my body dies before Jesus returns. “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” Romans 6:4 (ESV) I know that I have eternal life because I believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. John 11:25 says, “Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,”’ (ESV) I know that I have been redeemed. “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,” Ephesians 1:7 (ESV) I know that I am saved because I believe in Jesus and confess it with my lips. “Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9 (ESV) I also know that I will be glorified. Colossians 3:4 says, “When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” (ESV)
This is what God means when He says that we have hope. It in not just wishful thinking. It is being confident in the promises of God. It is knowing certain things are going to happen in the future. It gives me a reason to keep living as long as God has something for me to do for Him. After I have learned that everything I do I must do for God’s glory and for His glory alone.
Join me understanding the hope that God has given to those who believe in His promises. Know that hope is part of the gifts that God gives you when accept Jesus. Understanding that the hope you have is because of the death of Jesus Christ on the cross satisfying the penalty for my sins and yours as well. It satisfies all my sins from the past, in the present and in the future. My penalty and yours was satisfied on the cross by the death of Jesus, God’s greatest act of love and wrath, who became sin for me and you. It was also God’s greatest act of faithfulness because “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 (ESV) Because wisdom shows us, we need to believe in Jesus. I hope that you join me in helping others to choose Jesus.
If you have not read my previous blogs you can find them here.
You can find my book, Hope Amid Hopelessness: Our Abba Father Provides a Way Through Mental Illness here.
eBook or Audiobook versions can be found at Westbow Press or Christianbook.com at Amazon or Google
