Confident Hope
Read: Romans 12:12-13
12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.
We have a joke in our home that hope is a bad word. We are always hoping that something will happen, but most often the exact opposite occurs. Why does hope stir such strong feelings? Because we want good things to happen, and we know that isn’t always reality.
It leaves us to wonder what hope looks like in our daily lives. How do we come to terms with the need for hope while knowing that too often what we hope for doesn’t come about? How do we as believers define and think about hope?
While researching to write this Meditation for Preparation, I came across a definition of hope by Psychiatrist C. Rick Snyder: “The perceived capability to derive pathways to desired goals, and motivate oneself via agency thinking to use those pathways.”
Even just reading this definition of hope leaves me feeling defeated; all of this hope is based on me. If I am the problem, how do I change enough to bring about the hope that I need? And this hope seems to be based on my own ability to think I can make the pathways to achieve what I want. Oh no, no, no. I can’t do that! If this is all the world can offer me, then I am pretty sure hope is going to be left to others. I don’t have the “hope” that I can make any meaningful pathways while motivating myself to do so.
I, you, and the world need a better hope. A hope that has a foundation not based on you or me. A foundation that is strong and won’t fall apart because I am having a bad day or week or month or year. There is no way I would ever be “confident” in this hope that Dr. Snyder is offering because I am only confident in the fact that my hope will fail if it relies on me to keep it going. Lord, please give me a different way!
And He does give a different way, a better way: He gives Himself. Praise Jesus that my hope is not in you or me, but in Him. Our hope is based on His cross, His promises, His love, His character, His assurances, His presence, His salvation, His resurrection, His intercession, and so much more.
If you are still thinking, “But what I hope for doesn’t come about,” be careful not to confuse hope with optimism. Optimism is looking at patterns of the past and thinking things will work out in the future. Or it can be refusing to look at what is actually happening and choosing to ignore reality for a false sense of security. This is not hope. Hope sees the truth and knows the Lord will never leave nor forsake. Hope is looking at the promises of the Lord and trusting that the Lord will once again be faithful, even if we are unfaithful.
Martin Luther said, “Hope (Christ) changes the one who hopes into what is hoped for.” I would say what is hoped for is Christ Himself. Our hope is based on who He is. For all the promises of God are Yes in Christ. Let us be confident in the hope that Christ offers us: Himself.
I also found this video from Bible Project to be a helpful tool when thinking through hope within the Scriptures.
