What True Hope Looks Like

HOPE. Such a common word with a vast variance of meaning. Often we use the word 'hope' in regard to something we would like. I 'hope' my favorite ice cream is in stock, I 'hope' it doesn't rain at the beach, I 'hope' my friends will join me for some fun. Almost a source of wishful thinking. It can be used in well wishing for others - I 'hope' you feel better soon. Desiring better things to come into someone's life and circumstance.

When circumstances become challenging, hope dramatically becomes more important. Hope is the spark of light that gives courage to continue on through a dark valley. Hope may be a thread that we grasp when we feel like we are at the end of our rope.

Without hope, darkness threatens to consume us. When there is no light, no sign of change it can be overwhelming. Problems can become self absorbing until they are all that we see.

Psalms 130:5 says "I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His Word I do hope." A footnote in my Bible says, "in biblical thought, hope was synonymous with certainty. The psalmist puts his hope in God's Word and is standing on the promises of God."

Psalm 71:14 says "But I will hope continually..." The Hebrew verb translated hope describes a confident expectation that God will intervene and deliver. Biblical hope is much more than wishful thinking, but a confidence in something bigger than ourselves or our circumstance.

The best thing about hope is that it is one of God's attributes. God is the God of hope. He doesn't give glimpses of hope that disappear, He IS hope, He has given us hope and as we trust Him, He will fill us with joy, peace and the promise that we will abound in hope.

If you are struggling to see light at the end of the tunnel today, hold on to hope, cling to God who is our HOPE. Be confident, read God's Word and look expectantly for true hope.

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