I Hope So!

What does godly hope mean to you?  

When I say the word hope, what comes to mind?  Sometimes hope is a word that I use so casually.

I hope to lose 100lbs by the end of the month.

I hope that the bathroom is clean when I get home.

I hope that piece of wood that I just hit with my tire doesn't have a nail in it and make my tire go flat.

I hope that....

The other day, I realized that I had been using the word hope in place of wishful thinking.  I had to stop and think of what real hope meant.  I discovered that it means more than wishing I had just won a million dollars by clicking a link on Facebook.  Hope is not a gimmick.   

My hope is interlaced with trust.  

My faith is built on my trust in God.  Hope is a by-product of my faith.  The deeper my trust is in God's unseen, the more hope I have.  So hope, in a sense, is expectation, reliance, or confidence in God for whatever happens next, for whatever.  

Hope is vital to trust.  Trusting and hoping go hand in hand.  They are critical in my response to God and through faith, hope and trust is what anchors me to His heart.  God wants me to have faith.  He wants me to trust Him even when I can't see what He is doing.  He desires my trust the most.  Trust is born out of my confidence in God and his history of faithfulness.  

Waiting or hoping with expectation encompasses and strengthens my faith that connects me to God.  While I wait for God to work, I only want to keep my eyes trained on Him.  With love I follow.  With hope I wait.  Under the scope of faith, it really can't be separated on its own.  If I say I trust God, but yet try to design my own solutions to my own problems then my trust rings hollow.  My faith is shallow. I have a false hope.

"Do not let your hearts be troubled.  Trust in God; trust also in me."

John 14:1

Hoping in God is the only true hope.  It is Heaven directed and is hinged on my belief in Jesus, the son of God. I can experience the benefits of hope as I pass time in this earthly wait.  I can expect and put full trust, hopeful trust in my promised salvation.  I will falter; even stumble as I journey through this life as I am buffeted by trials.  Hope lifts my perspective from my weary heart to His glorious view.  Hope tells me I am not in this alone. The roughness of my journey becomes less significant.  As I cling to the hope of heaven, I expect that in my life journeys, deserts or not, God will transform as I follow I will learn and love Him more.   

"God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged.  We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.  It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain."  Hebrews 6:18-19.

Let godly hope give you courage to keep holding your head up high as you endure suffering and sorrow.  Chaos in life will always be with us; at times it will press in close.  However, the godly hope, the only dependable one Hope source in God, will keep your heart open and soul anchored in the Light of His Presence.  Jesus our Hope is the only hope we have.  All other hopes are just wishful thoughts.  

What does hope mean to you?