Hold Fast To Hope Regardless of What People Say
Holding on to Hope does not make you weak.
For a while now, I have noticed that having hope in God is not viewed as having strength when it comes to certain 'facts of life'.
The fact that hope is dismissed when it comes to many instances means that Christians do not believe that hope has any power. The Bible, however, emphatically states that hope in God should not be dismissed especially when circumstances decisively show otherwise.
Psalm 33:18-19
Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy;
To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.
Is Despair better than Hope?
If you are someone who despairs because of a circumstance, doesn't that despair make you feel worse?
Why then do so many people refuse to encourage hope in the hearts of their brethren?
For certain, hope comforts.
For certain, hope renews strength.
For certain, hope fortifies.
These are the things that hope does on its own. When the hope is in the power of God, it does not disappoint.
Hezekiah, when presented with a hopeless letter that stated Judah was doomed to be destroyed by Sennacherib, put his hope in God and that which was inevitable never happened. That which was absolutely never going to happen, happened because of his hope that God would hear his prayer. 2 Kings 19.
This hope was able to be so strong because of Hezekiah's faith in God and His mercy.
Psalm 42:5
Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted in me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.
Hope in God is the superior hope.
One of the main teachings of the world today, and perhaps it has always been this way, is that we should hope in ourselves or in our fellow man.
We should put our trust in ourselves and each other to the point of infallibility in some cases.
This type of hope is very toxic because it allows man to put limits on the power of God by saying emphatically that certain events or things either will never happen or will definitely happen. It also puts man in the position of God and casts His words aside.
Take the environment for example. Man has been saying that people will be wiped out soon for centuries. Each time, they make this announcement there are people who hope in their knowledge, who believe them and get very distressed. Yet it continues to be said year after year, generation after generation that people can either save or destroy the planet.
Take this recent pandemic. Mankind said that this virus would completely wipe out the elderly generation as well as those at high risk and that our only hope was to stay indoors or we would all be dead men.
People believed that staying indoors was our only hope and some still believe that. They hope that by staying indoors they will remain well but this hope is a hope that was born out of fear.
These types of hopes only lead to depression.
No wonder depression is at an all time high around the world.
The suicide numbers are also very high. Statistics continue to climb and more people die by suicide than by homicides every year. It is estimated that every 40 seconds, someone dies by suicide and some predict that this rate will change to one every 20 seconds. * So many people despairing because the little hope they have is quite often ripped away from them by mankind.
How cruel!
How unnecessary!
Daniel in the lions' den
Faith, Hope and Love
1 Corinthians 13 tells us that faith, hope and love abideth and that the greatest of these three is love.
In order to have faith and hope, one must have love. We cannot have either if we do not have love.
Love, in its true state, means complete trust. Complete trust is faith and faith brings forth hope that good things will happen.
In the Bible, we can see that trusting in God brought forth great faith and wondrous hope in His people.
Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, all hoped that God would rescue them from the flames. They went into the flames with expectation of good and said that even if good did not seem to come and they perished, they would still worship God. To the last they hoped and did not despair because they loved God and knew that He loved them.
The same goes for Daniel. When faced with the lions in the den, his faith in the Lord caused him to hope for good and that hope was fulfilled.
David, too was assured of the love of God, not only for himself but for the chosen people. When he was faced with the giant Goliath, he was astounded by his people and their complete lack of faith.
Did they not know that the Lord was on their side?
Did they not realize that He loved them and would take care of them?
What could man do to them?
This assurance of God's love, cemented David's faith and his hope for good bore tremendous fruit. He became a hero simply because he believed that God wanted good for His people.
As far as I can see, there is only benefit when one hopes in God, never disappointment.
As those who follow the way of Christ, we should not be afraid to hope because someone might call us foolish. If we do so we deny ourselves a joy and a peace that is available to us through His abiding love.
Why would we do that to ourselves?
Let misery keep its own company!
I'd rather have hope in the Lord until the end.
* https://ourworldindata.org/suicide
This content is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and is not meant to substitute for formal and individualized advice from a qualified professional.
© 2020 North Wind