Hope

By William R. Cunningham
For Sunday February 3, 2006

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

1 Peter 3:15 (NKJV) -- {15} But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;

Introduction

How do you look towards the future with regards to the overall human race and your own life personally?  I’m sure we know by now that the world is not going to get better as a whole.  However, that doesn’t mean that your quality of life should not improve.  Understand that by quality of life I am not talking about being rich or anything like that.  I mean it in terms of being satisfied, fulfilled, and living as best you can with what is available to you.  This includes health, wellness, finances, relationships, occupations, etc.  However, why should we look favorable to the future?  What motivation do we have such that we would think that the future holds something appealing to us?  I believe this is where the concept of hope comes into play.  It is hope that keeps us going with the expectation of a brighter day.  People fight in hopes of making their lives better.

However, when we look around us and listen to the news we find very little means for hope.  There isn’t much that we can latch onto that provides hope for the future.  Instead we hear how things look like they will get worse and cause us pain and suffering.  We hear newscasters report that our country is in threat of a recession and some believe that we might be heading towards a recession.  The funny thing here is—and I have thought this for a long time—that our economic system is based in a large part on the actions of a relatively few nervous and frightened people.  The stock market goes up and down based on the perception of the traders based on news that they heard.  That is interesting to me.  This causes others to be fearful about our future regardless of our present day accomplishments.

Then again, there is no reason why we should expect anything else from the world system.  The world system is only concerned about profits and anything that jeopardizes that causes people to act in fear, thus influencing the rest of the economy and society.  However, what should the Christian expect?  Are we immune from the affects of stock market fluctuations?  Should we be concerned with all of the bad news that is reported by the news?

There is one advantage that Christians have over everyone else.  We have a more stable source for hope.  We have the most stable source for hope that exists in the whole universe and beyond.  Sure we are affected by what happens in the world.  However, that doesn’t mean that all hope is lost for us.  If an investor looses all his money because of the performance of his stocks then he is likely to go to extreme despair and some even kill themselves thinking, I suppose that there is no more reason to live or that, for him, life is over.  Of course in reality all is not over though he may experience a major financial and personal change and the effects of that change.  The reason he finds he has no more hope is because his hope was in his money and now his money is gone, therefore so is his hope, i.e., favorable outlook for the future.

Job 31:24-28 (NKJV) -- {24} “If I have made gold my hope, Or said to fine gold, ‘You are my confidence’; {25} If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, And because my hand had gained much; {26} If I have observed the sun when it shines, Or the moon moving in brightness, {27} So that my heart has been secretly enticed, And my mouth has kissed my hand; {28} This also would be an iniquity deserving of judgment, For I would have denied God who is above.

Proverbs 11:28 (NKJV) -- {28} He who trusts in his riches will fall, But the righteous will flourish like foliage.

We therefore need to be careful about what we hope in and where we place our faith.  Money and riches may appear to be a panacea, but in reality they can all fly away on wings like eagles.  So we need to hope in something beyond what is in the world.  This is what I’d like to discuss with you now.

Despair

Sometimes we face situations in life where hope is hard to fine or even non-existent.  In those times it is important that we try to remain as strong and objective as possible.  I believe that it is also important in those times to be in fellowship so that we might be encouraged.  Here are some examples of people who were in despair.

• Genesis 27:46 (NKJV) -- {46} And Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth; if Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, like these who are the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?”
• Ecclesiastes 2:17 (NKJV) -- {17} Therefore I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me, for all is vanity and grasping for the wind.
• Ecclesiastes 4:1-2 (NKJV) -- {1} Then I returned and considered all the oppression that is done under the sun: And look! The tears of the oppressed, But they have no comforter— On the side of their oppressors there is power, But they have no comforter. {2} Therefore I praised the dead who were already dead, More than the living who are still alive.

What is Hope?

I think it is very helpful to define hope from the perspectives of the Old and New Testaments.

Hope in the Old Testament

The English word “hope” is translated from several Hebrew words in the bible.  However, for the most part they all refer to waiting in confident expectation, or to trust or have confidence in.  This confidence can be in God or something else.  Here are some selected scriptures from the Old Testament that pertain to hope.

• Psalm 31:24 (NKJV) -- {24} Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart, All you who hope in the Lord.
• Psalm 16:9 (NKJV) -- {9} Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will rest in hope.
• Psalm 33:18 (NKJV) -- {18} Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, On those who hope in His mercy,
• Psalm 33:22 (NKJV) -- {22} Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us, Just as we hope in You.
• Psalm 39:7 (NKJV) -- {7} “And now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in You.
• Psalm 43:5 (NKJV) -- {5} Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God.
• Psalm 78:5-7 (NKJV) -- {5} For He established a testimony in Jacob, And appointed a law in Israel, Which He commanded our fathers, That they should make them known to their children; {6} That the generation to come might know them, The children who would be born, That they may arise and declare them to their children, {7} That they may set their hope in God, And not forget the works of God, But keep His commandments;
• Proverbs 13:12 (NKJV) -- {12} Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But when the desire comes, it is a tree of life.
• Jeremiah 17:7 (NKJV) -- {7} “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, And whose hope is the Lord.

We see here a picture being painted of trusting God.  These scripture encourages us to put our confidence in God.  What do we trust God for?  These scripture indicate that we trust God in the normal course of our life.  We trust him to deliver us from harm, to take care of us, etc.   We must have confidence in God—even in his mercy.  We have to remember that we don’t deserve anything from God and all that he does for us is because of mercy.

Hope in the New Testament

Hope in the New Testament is quite different than the hope depicted in the Old Testament.  Hope in the New Testament was more eschatological then that of the Old Testament.  Hope in the New Testament mostly referred to the future hope of glory.  Hope here is based on the fact that one day we will be in heaven where there is no more pain and suffering.  Here are some selected scriptures from the New Testament regarding hope.

• Acts 2:26 (NKJV) -- {26} Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; Moreover my flesh also will rest in hope.
• Romans 4:18 (NKJV) -- {18} who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.”
• Romans 8:24 (NKJV) -- {24} For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees?
• 1 Corinthians 9:10 (NKJV) -- {10} Or does He say it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written, that he who plows should plow in hope, and he who threshes in hope should be partaker of his hope.
• 2 Corinthians 3:12 (NKJV) -- {12} Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech—
• Galatians 5:5 (NKJV) -- {5} For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
• Ephesians 2:12 (NKJV) -- {12} that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
• Ephesians 4:4 (NKJV) -- {4} There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling;
• Colossians 1:23 (NKJV) -- {23} if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.
• 1 Timothy 1:1 (NKJV) -- {1} Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope,
• Titus 1:2 (NKJV) -- {2} in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began,
• Hebrews 6:11 (NKJV) -- {11} And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end,

We see hope in the New Testament is mostly referring to our hope in God for salvation and the culmination of that salvation in the future.  We therefore, wait with confident expectation that we will be with the Lord for all eternity.

1 John 3:1-3 (NKJV) -- {1} Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. {2} Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. {3} And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

The Source of Hope

What is the source of the hope that we have in God either for the normal situations in our lives or for salvation?  The source of this hope is God himself along with what He told us.  We can have confident in what God says because he is trustworthy and will do what he says. 

However, were do we get this confidence, i.e., hope?  Can I just declare that I have hope in God and then have no worries?  That is doubtful.  The answer to that question is quite straight forward if we think of it with regards to principles.  Why would we feel comfortable putting our hope in riches?  We know what money can do even though we may not have much of it.  We believe that having a lot of money will eliminate many of the stresses that we have and therefore provide us with a brighter future.  We either know the power of money from our own experiences or we see it affecting the lives of others (celebrities for example).

The same thing applies to God.  We can obtain the same kind of confidence in God if we experience him.  This means that we have to indeed be aware of him operating in our lives and realize the corresponding effects.

Proverbs 3:5-6 (NKJV) -- {5} Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; {6} In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

Our relationship with God and experience of God will directly affect the hope that we have in him.  We cannot expect to put our hope or faith in God if we don’t know him.  We can’t really trust him or have confidence in him if we have never experienced him in our lives and come to know what he will do for us.  Therefore, I believe that we must experience God and have a relationship with him in order for us to really trust him and hope in him.

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

A big part of our relationship with God is his word.  We have to know the scriptures because God has revealed himself through them.  We obtain faith and hope from the scriptures.  So reading the bible is a way that we can obtain hope—if we consider the scriptures as real and not mere stories made up by men.

God’s Providence, Experience, and our Hope

I believe that God intervenes in our lives by providence.  I don’t believe that we should look for miracles and the like to solve our problems.  That is not the picture that the bible paints of God.  However, we do see from the scriptures given previously that God wants us to trust him. God wants us to hope in him.  Of particular interest to me is the following scripture.

Psalm 33:18 (NKJV) -- {18} Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, On those who hope in His mercy,

God takes care of those who hope in his mercy.  God takes care of those who put their confidence in his undeserving favor towards us.  For example, we can have confidence that we will get a pay check if we worked for it.  We’ve earned it and we have faith to receive that check.  However, there is nothing that we can earn from God.  However, God loves us and has mercy on us.  We therefore can hope in his mercy towards us by confidently expecting God to take care of us even though we don’t deserve it.

We can easily come to know God’s love for us if we experience him in our lives and are aware of him.  We can look back on things that have happened to us and realize God’s providence in those things.  We can use those experiences to build confidence for the future.

The Practical Things

I am always reminded of something that Pastor Effie Blumentoe once said. She said that God is practical.  Many people expect God to come with miracles to solve our problems and guide us on our way.  However, we can see from reading the bible and observing regular human life on this planet that God doesn’t appear to operate that way.  Instead, he moves in the various situations that we go through.

With that said, I think it is important that we take an active part in developing hope.  Sure we ultimately depend on God to take care of us, but that care will not be magical.  For example, I had confidence in God that he would provide for me and my family after being laid off from my job.  That wasn’t a time for me to sit down and watch soap operas thinking that God would magically take care of me.  I had to do what I needed to do to find another job or build my business or both, which I did.  I believed that God was leading me to whatever it was that would manifest his care for me and my family.  Well the hard work during that time paid off with another job.

Likewise, we can trust God, but we have to do our part.  If we want God to help with a physical ailment then we should do our part to learn what we can do to better the situation. Perhaps changing our diets will help.  Perhaps taking supplements or seeing a specialist will make a difference.  We just need to do something about it and know that God is leading us.  Be sensitive to him, which is learned through progressive experiences with him.

I look back on my life and it is amazing how the “miracles” that I experienced were indeed very practical.  They were miracles to me in that I had no direct control over it, but overall God just intervened in normal ways that are common to the earth.  He opens opportunities and we have to take advantage of them.  The opening was the miracle, but the opportunity could have been taken by someone else if I wasn’t paying attention.

Therefore, prayer is important if we want to build our hope.  It helps a great deal to pray to God and just tell him how you feel.  It helps to get it off your chest, so to speak.  It helps to tell someone that could surely make a difference.

Don’t allow waiting to discourage you.  Even if things don’t turn out the way that you want them to, still remain faithful to God.  A bad experience in life doesn’t mean that all is lost.  Just continue on and trust that God knows what he is doing with your life.  Get to know God.  Experience God, and hope in him for all things in your life—over and beyond your own ability or resources.  Amen.