In my position as a pastor, you can probably imagine that many people come to me with pretty desperate situations. One of the common things I hear from these hurting people is something along the lines of, “I really thought God had directed me on this, but it seems like it’s not going to work out.”
In other words, their hope is wavering.
For a Christian, hope is not blind trust. It’s not a feeling that things might work out. It’s not even holding on tighter.
For a Christian, hope is about a promise and a Person.
It’s about what God said and Who God is.
It’s about believing that His Word is true and that He is trustworthy.
Let me stitch together a few phrases about Abraham—
Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed. …Without weakening his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead… yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what He had promised. (Romans 4:18-21)
Abraham didn’t deny the facts, but he trusted the promise and the One Who gave him the promise!
And then there’s this promise for us about hope—
And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:2-5)
Do you need hope? Get the promise from God’s Word, and then trust the One Who spoke that word. Hang on—God IS doing something great!
Craig T. Owens 