By: Pastor Tracy Gill, Contributing Writer
pastortracygill@gmail.com
Hope defined is “a combination of desire and expectation. The feeling that something you want to happen is possible or will likely occur.”
It serves as a driving force to help us look forward to and reach for a better future. However, there are times it carries a negative connotation.
Like, “I hope you make it there safely,” or I hope it does not rain today.” It is the same as wishing something would happen.
Wishing can lead to anxiety, disappointment, and despair because it is subject to the unpredictability of the world.
Hope must be matched with action. Even as we look at hope from a Biblical stance, hope is not just a desire for something good to happen; it is a confident expectation.
Verses like “hope in God” mean EXPECT great things from God. There is a moral certainty with God, not a “cross your fingers” expectation. It is based on God’s faithfulness, His track record, not ours.
Hope is basically faith in the future tense. The truth is, the reason I have hope in God is because I KNOW God, not just about God.
I have studied His word and try to live it out. I have seen His faithfulness. I have seen Him open blind eyes right in front of me. I have seen psoriasis melt off someone’s body. I have witnessed cancer healed. Anxiety, gone! I have seen too much NOT to have hope in God.
I have also experienced His peace and comfort in the death of my parents and many other circumstances. I did not just “hope” God would show up; I had a confident expectation He would show up.
He always has. He always will. So stop just wishing things would be different in your life. Reach out to God, who is the “God of hope,” and know He is the only way. I will meet you there!
