Hope

"I certainly hope so..."

Have you ever uttered those words, perhaps in a difficult situation. Everyone has. And we probably finished the sentence, silently,

"... but I don't think so."

This is man's idea of hope. It's expecting the worse, while wishing for the best.

Fortunately, this is not God's idea of hope!

Confident Expectation of Success

The God kind of hope is a confident expectation of success. You exhibit confidence, from the inside out. Your situation and circumstances can be bleak, or even critical, but you have confidence.

Abraham expressed this type of hope. God told him he would be the father of many nations. But the circumstances said "Fat chance!" Abraham's wife, Sarah, was barren -- unable to conceive. And Abraham himself was "as good as dead."

Here's Abraham's story, from the Amplified Version:

[For Abraham, human reason for] hope being gone, hoped on in faith that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been promised, So [numberless] shall your descendant be.

He did not weaken in faith when he considered the [utter] impotence of his own body, which was as good as dead because he was about a hundred years old, or [when he considered] the barrenness of Sarah's (deadened) womb.

No unbelief or distrust made him waver or doubtingly question concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong and was empowered by faith as he gave praise and glory to God, fully satisfied and assured that God was able and mighty to keep His word and to do what He had promised. Romans 4:18:21 AMP

Hope Proceeds Faith

From the book of Hebrews, chapter 11, we learn that hope proceeds faith, and that hope defines, or provides the image, for our faith:

Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title-deed) of things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality--faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses. Hebrews 11:1 AMP

We have hope for health, success, provision, and then faith brings that image into reality.

Hope in God

The God kind of hope starts with hope in God Himself. It's not hope in yourself, in another human, in education, in your job, your bank account.

Psalm 42:5: Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

Psalm 62:5: Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him.

Psalm 130:7: O Israel, put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord in unfailing love and with him is full redemption.

Psalm 146:5: Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them--the Lord, who remains faithful forever.

Psalm 147:11: The Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.

Hope in God's Word

God's Word is His covenant with us. His word never fails.

Psalm 119:74: May those who fear you rejoice when they see me, for I have put my hope in your word.

Psalm 130:5: I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope.

Hope in Christ

We also put our hope in the Anointed One and in his Anointing (Christ).

1 Corinthians 15:19: If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.

Colossians 1:27: To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of Glory.

Hopeless

Hopelessness does not come from circumstances. It's not caused by lack of education, opportunity, social status, employment, or anything else. Here's the cause of hopelessness:

remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. Ephesians 2:12 NIV

If you are without God, then you are without hope. But you need not stay that way.

But now in Christ Jesus you who were once far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. Ephesians 2:13 NIV

Developing Hope

We can develop Godly hope in our lives.

And let us rejoice and exult in our hope of experiencing and enjoying the glory of God.

Moreover--let us also be full of joy now! Let us exalt and triumph in our troubles and rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that pressure and affliction and hardship produce patient and unswerving endurance.

And endurance (fortitude) develops maturity of character--that is, approved faith and tried integrity. And character [of this sort] produces [the habit of] joyful and confident hope of eternal salvation.

Such hope never disappoints or deludes or shames us, for God's love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Romans 5:2b-5

Faith, Hope and Love

1 Corinthians 13:13: And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love.

Practice

Like Abraham, practice giving praise and glory to God in the midst of negative circumstances and situations. Praise God for the victory!