Hope

What Scripture Helps Us Understand

Scripture never asks us to manufacture hope by pretending painful circumstances are better than they really are.

Biblical hope can look directly at suffering and still say:

God is faithful.

The foundation of our hope is not our ability to understand what God is doing.

It is the character of God Himself.

• He is sovereign when life feels out of control.
• He is wise when we cannot understand His purposes.
• He is good when our circumstances are painful.
• He is faithful when we are waiting.
• And He is present even when we cannot see what He is doing.

Our circumstances may change.

They may not.

But God does not change.

Hope Is Anchored in the Gospel

The greatest evidence that God has not abandoned His people is found in Jesus Christ.

Our deepest problem is not ultimately our circumstances. We are sinners in need of redemption and reconciliation with a Holy God.

And God has provided what we could never provide for ourselves.

Jesus Christ lived the righteous life we could not live, died the death our sin deserved, and rose again in victory over sin and death.

Those who place their faith in Christ and repent are forgiven, justified, reconciled to God, and given eternal life.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ therefore changes the way believers understand hope.

Our hope is not wishful thinking.

Our hope has an empty tomb behind it.

Because Christ has risen, sin and death do not have the final word.

Whatever suffering we experience now exists within a much greater redemptive story—and we already know how that story ends.

When God Does Not Change the Circumstances

Sometimes we place our hope in a particular outcome without realizing it.

• We hope the marriage will change.
• We hope the illness will disappear.
• We hope the child will return.
• We hope the financial difficulty will end.
• We hope the loneliness will lift.
• We hope the prayer will be answered in exactly the way we have asked.

It is right to bring these desires before The Lord.

But there is an important difference between hoping that God will do something and placing our hope in God Himself.

If our hope depends upon receiving a particular outcome, our hope will rise and fall with our circumstances.

Biblical hope says:

“I will ask God for what I desire, but I will trust Him with what He chooses.”

That is not resignation.

It is faith.

We may not understand God's purposes, but we know His character. And because of Christ, we know that suffering is never the final chapter for those who belong to Him.

Hope Changes How We Wait

Biblical hope is not passive.

Because we know God's promises are certain, hope enables us to continue obeying Him while we wait.

• We can pray when answers seem delayed.
• We can love when relationships are difficult.
• We can pursue holiness when growth feels slow.
• We can serve when no one notices.
• We can endure suffering without believing suffering is meaningless.
• We can repent when we fall.
• We can get up and continue walking with The Lord.

Hope does not mean that we always feel strong.

Sometimes hope looks remarkably ordinary.

It may simply look like opening God's Word again. Praying again. Obeying again. Trusting again.

Taking the next faithful step because we believe God is still God, His Word is still true, and Christ is still enough.

Christ Is Our Hope

Ultimately, Christianity does not merely give us reasons to hope.

It gives us Christ.

The greatest promise of the gospel is not that God will make our earthly lives comfortable.

It is that through Christ, we belong to Him.

There is coming a day when faith will become sight.

• Sin will be gone.
• Death will be defeated forever.
• Suffering will end.
• God will dwell with His people, and everything broken by sin will finally be made right.

Until that day, our hope is not anchored in what we can see.

It is anchored in the One who has promised.

And He is faithful.

Jesus is enough for us, and He is the end of all our pursuits.

Questions to Consider

• Where am I most tempted to lose hope right now?
• What outcome am I longing for God to provide?
• Have I begun placing my hope in that outcome rather than in God Himself?
• What am I believing about God because my circumstances have not changed?
• Which aspect of God's character is especially important for me to remember right now?
• What has the death and resurrection of Christ guaranteed for those who belong to Him?
• Am I interpreting God's character through my circumstances, or interpreting my circumstances through what I know to be true about God?
• What would faithful obedience look like while I wait?
• Where might The Lord be calling me to trust Him without knowing the outcome?
• Is Christ Himself enough for me even if the thing I desperately want never comes?

That final question is difficult.

But it reaches beneath our circumstances to something deeply important:

Where does our hope ultimately rest?

Scripture to Consider

• Romans 5:1–5

  Because we have been justified through faith, even suffering can produce endurance and character as God works within us, and our hope will not ultimately disappoint us.

• Romans 8:18–39

  Present suffering cannot compare with the glory that will be revealed, and nothing can separate believers from the love of God in Christ.

• Romans 15:13

  God Himself is described as the God of hope, filling His people with joy and peace as they trust Him.

• Lamentations 3:21–26

  In the midst of profound suffering, Jeremiah deliberately remembers God's steadfast love, mercy, and faithfulness and therefore has hope.

• Psalm 42:5

  The psalmist speaks to his troubled soul and deliberately directs himself to hope in God.

• 1 Peter 1:3–9

  Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, believers have been born again to a living hope and an inheritance that cannot perish.

• 2 Corinthians 4:16–18

  Present suffering is viewed in light of eternal glory as believers learn to look beyond what is seen to what is eternal.

• Hebrews 6:17–20

  The hope God gives His people is described as a sure and steadfast anchor for the soul.

• Revelation 21:1–5

  God's redemptive story ends with Him dwelling with His people, wiping away every tear, and making all things new.

A Simple Next Step

Identify one situation in which you are struggling to hope.

Write down:

What I want God to do: Be honest. What outcome are you longing for?

Then write:

What God has already promised: Choose one of the passages above and identify what is certainly true regardless of how your circumstances turn out.

Then ask:

“If God does not change this situation today, how can I faithfully trust and obey Him today?”

Bring both your desire and your disappointment before The Lord.

You do not need to pretend that the outcome does not matter to you.

Ask boldly. Pray honestly.

But then entrust the outcome to Him.

Biblical hope allows us to say:

“The Lord, this is what I desire—but You are the One I ultimately need.”

And then take the next faithful step.

When You Would Like Someone to Walk Alongside You

There are times when prolonged suffering, disappointment, unanswered prayer, or difficult circumstances can make it hard to see beyond what is immediately in front of us.

Biblical counseling provides a place to bring those struggles honestly into the light of God's Word, examine where our hope has been resting, and learn to view our circumstances through the character and promises of God and the finished work of Christ.

If you are struggling to find hope in the midst of difficult circumstances, I would be honored to walk alongside you as you learn to anchor your hope more deeply in Christ and the promises of God's Word.