Hope

It doesn’t matter what your social position is or if you have nothing to offer – God appreciates and cherishes you. We see an example of this in the Holy Bible where it says, “While Jesus was in the Temple, he watched the rich people dropping their gifts in the collection box. Then a poor widow came by and dropped in two small coins. ‘I tell you the truth,’ Jesus said, ‘this poor widow has given more than all the rest of them.  For they have given a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she has.’” (Luke 21: 1-4)

It doesn’t matter who you are; it doesn’t matter what terrible things you may have done wrong – there is always hope with God. God is always ready to pick you up and help you when you turn to Him. For example the apostles, Jesus’ closest friends, abandoned Him when He was arrested and Peter denied three times that he even knew Him. Yet, Jesus continued to love them and filled them with the power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 24:49). The Apostle Paul persecuted Christians, imprisoned them and sought to kill them. Yet Jesus appeared to Paul, enlightened him and caused him to be a great encouragement to all the world. (Acts 8 : 3 , Acts 9 : 1-31). We also read about the hope that Zacchaeus had which led him to meeting Jesus. His meeting with Jesus led him to repenting and giving back all that he had stolen from people (Luke 19 : 1-10).

Do Not Despair

So do not despair, no matter how weak your spiritual life is. Even if you despair of yourself never despair of the grace of God which is great towards you. God doesn’t need you to be perfect or even good before you come to Him because He is always ready to help those who ask for his help. Even if you feel that you don’t really love God and that your good deeds are empty – be comforted and encouraged – know that God loves you and with His love He can make your heart to be filled with love for Him. If you feel that you don’t have a true relationship with God – keep seeking Him – keep reading the Bible even if at times it is without understanding, keep praying even if it is without warmth, keep repenting from sin even if you keep falling into it again, keep confessing, keep going to church. Trust that because of your sincere perseverance, the grace of God will seek you and give you the understanding, warmth, repentance, joy and strength. This is better than losing hope and having no relationship with God. It is also wise to remember that it takes time to grow in your spiritual life so don’t despair if you feel weak. Take steps towards God that are within your abilities and be aware that God wants only one step from you and if you take it He will lead you to the next and so on.

The same applies to all your good endeavors in life. Hope is a driving strength for work. Hope does not
mean idleness and just relying on God. Rather hope is rejoicing in the work of God and in doing good. It urges one to share in God’s work, with enthusiasm. Live in hope and wait on the Lord, rejoicing in Him and in His work. Pray that your hope will increase.

This hope gives strength that springs from God, when we remember all His love and goodness towards us. As the Lord says, “But those who wait on the Lord, shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and shall not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31).

Hope in Troubled Times

Jesus tells us in the Bible (John 16:33), “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” So in times of trouble a spiritual person focuses on God who overcomes the trouble and doesn’t focus too much on the trouble itself. The Christian who believes in God’s goodness,
protection, love and promises has faith, and this faith fills, his or her heart with hope. This hope gives peace, confidence, strength and joy. The Holy Bible also teaches us to be “rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer” (Romans 12:12). Christians with a strong belief are confident that their prayers are heard by God and that whatever God is going to do is for their own good. In each difficulty that they face and for each problem, they have hope that God will save them. No matter how hard it is and how long God takes to respond, they have hope that God will come, even in the last hours of the night. Therefore, they never lose hope. They remember God’s promise when He said, “I will not leave you nor forsake you” (Joshua 1:5) and “I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). Belief in these promises gives a person hope, a hope that trusts in the help of God without grumbling, impatience, fear or worry. God doesn’t rush nor does He delay but He is always working towards your good and will provide a the solution at the right time. A spiritual person trusts in God’s wisdom to manage his or her life and says to God joyfully, “Your will be done” (Luke 11:2). Such a person follows the Bible’s advice, “Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord!” (Psalm 27:13). A spiritual person waits on the Lord and is strong within while waiting.

Even if the trouble is very complicated or the problem seems impossible to solve, the Bible encourages us not to give up because hope is unlimited. It is unlimited because it says “all things are possible to him who believes.” (Mark 9:23) and “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Phil 4:13). If you are confronted with hopelessness about your personal abilities then remember God’s power and abilities. If you unable, remember that God is always able. In such situations Jesus says, “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.” (Mark 10:27). There is no impossible in the life with God. There is hope whatever the sin is, whatever the troubles are and however difficult the case is.

Satan fights humanity with hopelessness and despair. But God says, “See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands” (Isaiah 49:16). We are in God’s hands and God is in control. God has solutions to problems, He opens doors, He controls tribulation and doesn’t allow us to be tested beyond our ability. He even makes tribulation and trouble work for good.

Stories of Hope

We face many difficulties and hardships in life and often with severe distress and suffering but the Bible comforts us saying “All things work together for good to those who love God” (Romans 8 : 28). The Bible is full of many comforting and inspiring stories to encourage us and which show the truth of this verse.

In the Bible we read about Joseph. His brothers threw him into a pit and then sold him as a slave into Egypt (Genesis 37). Although he was faithful and successful in serving his new master, a false accusation was brought against him and he was cast into prison for a long time. Despite all the heartbreak and anguish he felt, all things worked together for Joseph’s good. In prison Joseph met Pharaoh’s butler who later remembered Joseph and told Pharaoh about him. Following this, Joseph met Pharaoh and rose to become governor of all Egypt and second in charge only to Pharaoh. He also saved his brothers from famine and was reconciled to them (Genesis 39 – 45).

Similarly, there was hope for Daniel who was thrown into the lion’s den (Daniel 6: 1-28); there was hope for Adam and Eve (1 Corinthians 15:20-22), (Hebrews 11:13-16); there was hope for Jonah who was swallowed by a great fish (Jonah 2: 1-10); there was hope for Job (Job 1 – 42); there was hope for the three young men who were thrown into a fiery furnace (Daniel 3 : 8-30); there was hope for barren women who couldn’t have children (Genesis 21: 1-7), (Luke 1: 5-25); there was hope for all the blind, sick and paralyzed that Jesus healed (Matthew 14 : 14)

Conversely, the Apostle Paul prayed to God to heal him of an infirmity but the Lord replied to him, “My grace is sufficient for you”. So God didn’t heal Paul and Paul writes “when I am weak, then I am strong.” With this hope, the Apostle Paul was strong. He endured imprisonment, being beaten, being persecuted and shipwrecked all while he preached and shared the life giving words of God (2 Corinthians 12: 7-10).

Even today, we see people who are living with serious and painful diseases. And again there is hope for them as the Bible states “All things work together for good to those who love God” (Romans 8 : 28). Such terrible diseases have led many people to repentance and to change their lives for the better. Illness has turned many people towards God, to live a life of goodness, to join the fellowship of Church, to help those who are in need and to shun wrongdoing. For others, terminal diseases have led them to repent and be reconciled with God before they die. For such people their diseases led them to salvation – to eternal life with God.

The Ultimate Hope

Jesus says “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life (John 6:47-48). Christians believe in God’s promise to save them from death. Their greatest hope is that they will live forever in heaven with God. It is a hope in another new life, in a wonderful renewal where we will be free from sin and wrongdoing. It is a belief in heaven where only all goodness exists (Revelation 21 : 3-5) and (1 Corinthians 2 : 9). A place we will live in forever and for which we prepare ourselves now. Christians believe that death is only a transition to everlasting life.

Jesus Christ also says in the Holy Bible “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:24-26) Yes, Christians believe this because they believe Jesus when says, “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63).

In the face of any difficulty or problem Christians have Jesus Christ who died for them and rose again from the dead. He gives us hope that after death there is life, and after darkness there is light, and that there is a solution to every problem. Therefore, as the Bible tells us we shouldn’t “sorrow as others who don’t have hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13).

The Bible tells us that God our Savior, “wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4). Notice the Bible says all people. And Jesus said He “has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19: 10). It is a great hope that God is seeking you and cares very much about saving you. God seeks to save all people including the worst criminal, the lost, the downtrodden and the outcast. Let’s be encouraged with hope because the Bible says “there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance” (Luke15:7). Therefore, no matter what you may have done and no matter what happens to you, there is hope for you, God is still seeking you – you can be saved. Trust that your soul is valuable to God however little or of no value it may seem to other people or to you.

Jesus says “Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne (Revelation 3: 20-21).