The God Kind of Hope 1

Devotional Reading: Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love… 1 Corinthians 13:13 NLT

Paul tells us that three things, faith, hope and love, will endure, will last forever. Point is, they outlast everything. Almost everything we think is secure and permanent is far from it, but faith, hope and love will go the distance. They don’t crumble, rust, fade, self-destruct, lose value, nor do they go out of fashion.

We are familiar with faith. It describes the inner conviction that what God has said is both trustworthy and apprehend-able. By it we have a foretaste of the age to come. It is the ‘now’ of, ‘now and not yet.’ And faith points to, is fulfilled by, the one who we have faith in – Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour.

Love needs no introduction, although it needs constant redefinition and reminder.

But hope languishes in the understanding of many.

To begin with it isn’t wishful thinking, as in, I hope it doesn’t rain or, I hope I pass the exam, or, I hope for better days, etc. Nor is hope merely a positive attitude/optimism (although someone with hope is likely to have a positive attitude – as an outcome though, not as a goal). I suspect many of us think that hope is a cheery disposition.

Biblical hope is an enduring quality, biblically speaking. It has substance and strength. It thrives on God’s word, the psalmist wrote, “Remember your promise to me; it is my only hope.” Psalms 119:49 NLT. The God kind of hope builds confidence around God’s promises. So if you think you are hoping and you seem not to understand what it is, now you have a bit of the picture of what real hope means.

Prayer and Confession
May God, the fountain of hope, fill me to overflowing with uncontainable joy and perfect peace as I trust in him. And may the power of the Holy Spirit continually surround my life with his super-abundance until I radiate with hope!
Amen.

Further Reading: Hebrews 6:19