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BY PASTOR BRANDON YOUNG
It certainly seems like so many individuals have lost hope lately especially during this pandemic. This lack of hope has caused emotional and mental health concerns around the world. Depression and suicide rates have increased greatly, and this is exactly what Satan desires to happen. He wants nothing more than to steal, kill, and destroy, and there is not a better way to accomplish that task than to make individuals feel that things will never get better.
Hopelessness has set in across our world, but given the worldly idea or definition of hope, I can see why. The current idea of hope is “to wish for, to expect, but without certainty of the fulfillment; to desire very much, but with no real assurance of getting your desire.” The world wishes for change but is uncertain that change will occur. With this uncertainty, you can easily see why hopelessness creeps in with this view of hope. This, however, is not the definition of hope that we find in God’s word.
According to Bible.org, in scripture, according to the Hebrew and Greek words translated by the word “hope” and according to the biblical usage, hope is an indication of certainty. “Hope” in Scripture means “a strong and confident expectation.” Though outdated today in modern terms, hope is similar to trust and a confident expectation in the Bible. When we see the word hope in the Bible, it means that there is an expectation and trust that things will change. In the Bible, hope is never static. It is dynamic, active, directive and life sustaining. Take a concordance, look up the word “hope” and you will find reference after reference pointing out the active results of hope in the lives of those who truly have a biblical hope and live accordingly.
According to J. Hampton Keathley, III, “In other words, a biblical hope is not an escape from reality or from problems. It doesn’t leave us idle, drifting or just rocking on the front porch. If our hope is biblical and based on God’s promises, it will put us in gear.” Real hope causes us to not only expect change but be the agents of change! We begin to pray earnestly in faith and trust that something is going to change for the better. We do our part to bring about change, and sometimes that can be accomplished by just speaking of better things to come. Life is in the power of the tongue. We must stop with the gloom and doom rhetoric. It is up to us as believers to expect our God to change things!
Bible.org gives this wonderful truth about hope, “Biblically, from the standpoint of the object hoped for, hope is synonymous with salvation and its many blessings, past, present, and future, as promised in Scripture. This is true even with what we have already received as believers because these blessings come under the category of what we cannot see. We may see some of the results, but it still requires faith and hope.” When we as believers accepted Christ as our Savior, we were saved by hope. We were unable to see justifying work of God that took place through Christ nor did we see the Holy Ghost enter our hearts. We all had hope that this did occur although we did not see it with our physical eyes. I did not see my name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life on January 8, 1989, but with hope I know it is there and one day I will personally see it! Praise God for that HOPE! Paul says in Romans 8: 24-25, “For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.” I know we do not see things around us getting much better at this moment, but we must hope (expect and trust) it will get better while we wait!
According to Psalm 39:7, our hope is found in the Lord. No matter what the circumstances are around us, we know we have a Father in control. There is real power in biblical hope. It gives us joy and peace. Romans 15:13 says, “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.” It gives us protection. Psalm 33:18-20, “Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy; 19 To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine. 20 Our soul waiteth for the LORD: he is our help and our shield. It gives us strength, courage, boldness. Psalm 31:24 proclaims, “Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.” It gives us endurance, comfort, confidence in the face of death. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 says, “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.” We have HOPE in Christ Jesus and let’s proclaim that to a hopeless world. Put your complete faith and confidence in God and EXPECT CHANGE even when you can’t see it! This is real HOPE!
(Brandon Young is pastor at Harmony Free Will Baptist Church, Hampton)