It’s easy to look at the condition of our world and not have a lot of hope. Economic uncertainty, war, political unrest, crime, joblessness, as well as a myriad of other things are a reality for us all. But if I read the Scriptures correctly, we are to keep hoping. But hope isn’t worth much if you don’t have the right object for your hope. The reason many people today are lacking in the hope department is because they’ve put their hope in the wrong place - their career, their finances, their friends, their families, or their political leaders. We put our hope a lot of other places other than in Jesus. But none of those things truly offer lasting hope. The only place where hope is lasting, in fact, eternal, is when we put our full faith and trust in Christ. Yet, that hope is something we all struggle with from time to time. It's not a trait that we inherit.
Hope is very akin to faith. Hope is defined as "a confident expectation of something better." So if our hope is in Christ, we should be thinking, “The best is still to come. I’ve got much more to look forward to in this life and throughout eternity.” And when we fix our minds on that fact, hope comes alive in our hearts. So we need to train our minds to think those thoughts. And when you “fall off the wagon”, so to speak, get back on it. Stir up the hope within you. But we need to set about this process in an intentional way. Intentionally swap your doubt for hope. Trade discouragement and despair for hope. “Trade your sorrows for the joy of the Lord.” That’s why we come to church. That’s why we meet in LifeGroups – so we can be encouraged by each other and spurred on to hope. I realize that any of us at any given moment are prone to a sense of hopelessness. That’s because none of us are perfect. But we can challenge each other to do better and keep on hoping. The best is yet to come!!!
"Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." – Rom. 5:2-5
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