A Resolute Hope

Devotional Reading: Now may God, the fountain of hope, fill you to overflowing with uncontainable joy and perfect peace as you trust in him. And may the power of the Holy Spirit continually surround your life with his super-abundance until you radiate with hope! Romans 15:13 TPT

We know that many feel their hope is being shaken these days—maybe that’s you. Elections which will come sooner, economic turmoil…. This world can seem overwhelming and scary.

Even in good times, the news generally isn’t calming or encouraging. One of the first things I have learnt about journalists and reporters is that conflict makes the headlines. Negative stories are also more likely than positive stories to be unusual or timely, which makes them more likely to be reported.

But in the pages of the Bible, in the stories of the early church, and in the lives of everyday Christians today, we see a different story. We see a tremendous amount of hope—but not a giddy, ridiculous, naive hope, like some fantasy that you’ll inherit millions from some heretofore-unknown uncle.

Instead, we see Christians with a realistic, honest, solid hope. Across time and space, Christians hope that God will help them—and he always does. They hope that he will use them—and he does. They hope that someday all things will be made right—and they certainly will.

Their hope isn’t soft or silly. It’s real and robust because it hopes in something true. It’s rooted not in their ability but in God’s character. This God kind of hope grows with time as God’s faithfulness proves itself over and over. It is a resolute hope because it doesn’t sway in the winds of politics or wobble under the pressure of delayed (or unrealized) results. It doesn’t crack when the election doesn’t go the right way or the test shows cancer or the temptation persists.

This hope is anchored in the past and aimed at the future. It plays the long game—a hope that can see the score at the end and works while it waits for the buzzer. This our hope!

Prayer and Confession
God, Your hope is an anchor for my soul. Whatever my circumstances or the world’s circumstances, Your hope never changes. Help me to live out that truth. Amen.

Further Reading: Jeremiah 29:11, Hebrews 6:19