How Do You Define Hope?

How do you define Hope? It’s a word that points towards the future, a word that can almost mentally lighten our load just thinking about the good things to come. It’s also a word that is illustrated and spoken about many times throughout the Scriptures.

From instances where God demonstrated His power to rescue and His promises to save, to messages from prophets reminding people of God’s words they had ignored or forgotten, to books of poetry that beautifully depict the blessings of hope. All of these point to God’s promises to make our life better than it is now. Or as 1 Corinthians 2:1-9 says as Paul reminds us of the wonderful mysteries of God that have been revealed through Jesus Christ and his willingness to give up the now because he trusted the later – God’s reward for faithfulness. “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

David was a man “after God’s own heart,” and there is probably no better place to see his trust in God’s provisions and blessings than in the Psalms. The Psalms are praises to God, expressions of the raw human feelings about God’s guidance. Therefore, we can benefit a lot from reflecting on the Psalms as fuel for our hope.

Psalms 32:1-2, “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.”

Psalms 33:18-19, “Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His mercy, to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.”

Those encouragements from scripture have been a constant source of hope for those who study and meditate on them. On the Day of Pentecost, Peter shared this hope with a crowd that could have easily been labeled hopeless. After all, they had killed the Son of God. But instead, Peter offers hope. He says in Acts 2:25-28 (Psalms 16:8-11), “‘I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken. Therefore, my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; moreover, my flesh also will rest in hope. For You will not leave my soul in Hades, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. You have made known to me the ways of life; you will make me full of joy in Your presence.’”

It was a prophecy about Christ, but for those who will trust in Christ, we too share in that same hope of resurrection (Philippians 3:10). The Word, which became flesh, brought hope because we now have a way to see past our own sin and guilt and shame and can reflect on the good things to come. “Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through Him.” – John 14:6.