Day 27: Defining Hope

photo by Ron Smith

Read: Isaiah 40:28-31

“Do you not know? Have you not heard? Yahweh is the everlasting God, the Creator of the whole earth. He never grows faint or weary; there is no limit to His understanding. He gives strength to the weary and strengthens the powerless. Youths may faint and grow weary, and young men stumble and fall, but those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not faint.”

Understand:

  1. What does God do for the weary?
  2. What will happen to those who put their trust in the Lord?

Listen: When my youngest son was in first grade, my husband and I had to take him to the emergency room. We were fortunate enough to live near Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee. (I will always be thankful to that hospital! They are amazing!) The reason we went was because he wasn’t breathing right. In fact, when you looked at his chest, the sides of his ribs almost looked like they were indented. We had no idea what was going on. We just knew that our son couldn’t breathe well. When we arrived at the emergency room, they took us back immediately, and the doctor came in and, after examining him, began explaining the medical diagnosis. For those of us who aren’t in medicine, a lot of the verbiage associated with medical issues can be daunting. I could feel my desperation kicking in as I watched the nurse begin working with my son based upon the doctor’s recommendations. The doctor asked me if my son had ever been diagnosed with asthma. At the time, he had not. She started explaining what was happening inside his lungs, then suddenly stopped and just looked at me and said, “Don’t worry. I can fix this.” At that moment, I felt peace wash over me. The medical jargon didn’t matter to me at the time. I just needed hope that everything was going to be okay with my child.

Hope is so extremely important. I see it often as that little line that separates me from being okay or suffering from complete despair. Without it, I would totally crash and burn; with it, I know things are going to be okay. Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines hope this way:

  1. To cherish a desire with anticipation (Wait, it gets better. Read #2)
  2. To desire with expectation of attainment or fulfillment (We’ve moved from anticipation to expectation! Look at #3.)
  3. To expect with confidence; Trust. (Trust is knowing beyond a shadow of doubt that it’s going to happen. But look at the next definition of hope as a noun.)
  4. Someone or something on which hopes are centered. (Someone! Our hopes are centered on Someone!)

 Look at what Romans 5:5 says; “This hope does not disappoint, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” Hope is like our energy source. With it, we can anticipate good things because we expect them to happen. Not only do we expect them to happen, but we trust and believe with everything in us that it will happen. It keeps us going. Why can we do this? Look at #4 definition again. Because we center our hope on Someone. We center our hope on the Lord Jesus Christ and we are promised in Romans 5:5 that He will not disappoint us. Look at this verse from Hebrews 6:18-20; “. . . we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to seize the hope set before us. We have this hope – like a sure and firm anchor of the soul – that enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain. Jesus has entered there on our behalf.” We’ve looked at this verse before but it’s so important to remember because we have hope because Jesus always goes before us, not only in our daily activities but also to intercede for us with God. This is why we can be assured of our hope. When we have given our life to Christ and accepted His salvation, He is our greatest advocate!

Be encouraged friends! We have THE best advocate who is constantly with us; constantly offering assurance that He’s got this. Cling to His promises! He’s got this.

Pray: Dear Heavenly Father, You are amazing. Thank You for giving us hope but not just the way people often define it as an anticipation. Thank You for letting us know that we can expect and trust in You. Help us cling to Your promises always. In Jesus name we pray, amen.