Hope

Hope is something we all want; something we all need. Loss of hope can lead to depression and even suicide. What do we put our hope in?

Money/retirement funds - where does hope go when the stock market crashes or the job ends?

Government - where does hope go if the elected officials don't live up to their promises?

House - where does hope go if the house loses it's value?

Spouse/family - where does hope go if the marriage ends or the kids are rebellious or somebody dies?

Friends - where does hope go if a friend betrays us?

Health - where does hope go if health fails, if a debilitating or terminal illness is diagnosed?

Everything on earth is temporary. Everything. Therefore, nothing on earth can supply hope. The Bible says in Proverbs 11:7, "Hopes placed in mortals die with them; all their power comes to nothing." And in Psalm 33:17 "A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all it's great strength it cannot save." We don't rely on horses these days - unless it's horsepower under the hood of a car - but you can substitute any of the list above for "horse".

So, if I can't put my hope in money or friends or my spouse or my health, what is there? There is the only one hope, a sure hope, a never ending hope for all mankind. That hope is God. Throughout the Old Testament the writers speak of the hope found only in God. This is especially true in Job and in the Psalms. "Yet if you devote your heart to [God] and stretch out your hands to him...You will be secure because there is hope; you will look about you and take your rest in safety." (Job 11:13-18) Psalm 119 has many references to "hope in your laws", "hope in your word", "you have given me hope". 

The prophet Isaiah said, "but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." And Jeremiah tells us, "I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Paul in Romans 15:13 calls God the God of hope and tells us hope comes from the Holy Spirit when he prays, "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." 

To know God, through Christ Jesus, is to know the only hope of the world. "remember that at that time you were separate from Christ...without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who were once far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ." (Ephesians 2:12-13)