Romans 8:24-25
For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
Each year time seems to fly by faster and faster. When we look back at the previous year it seems like days, not months. Just last week I had a group of bowhunters in camp and as they arrived and looked over the photos that were coming in from the trail cameras, they talked of their hope that this might be their best hunt ever.
The weather warmed up to 20 degrees above normal and the deer movement slowed to a crawl and what we expected to a banner year ended up being one their worst hunts ever… at least it seemed that way until we sat and talked the last evening. It was then that the guests all said that the harvest was down, the spiritual connections were the best ever.
Sometimes we put our hope in the wrong places… Instead of hoping for a personal reward, we need to place our hope where it truly belongs… In God. For true hope isn’t really hope at all, but instead a promise and an assurance,
Where is our hope as we wait on the Lord to accomplish His work? What is our hope? Our biblical hope is different from human hope...
What Hope Isn’t
Hope is not “I hope my team wins the Super Bowl” or “I hope I get a raise.” Biblical hope is not a "hope-so" but it is a "know-so". It isn’t wishing for the best. It isn’t waiting to see what happens and hope that it turns out well. Hope is not a feeling or an emotion. Biblical Hope is the knowledge of facts. If someone says to you that “I hope you have a good day,” there is no guarantee that the day will go well. To have a biblical hope is to have a sure anchor of the soul, not hoping for rain because the forecast says that there is a 60% chance of rain and you hope that you get your garden watered. That is not hope…that is wishful thinking and it is totally undependable and has no power to make anything happen... Its just a wish
Human hope pales in comparison to biblical hope, as we shall read.
Paul gives us a great example of hope in Romans chapter 8. Whenever we encounter hopelessness in new believers and even among experienced Christians and there is doubt about their salvation, we can direct them back to Romans 8:24-25
A Christian’s definition of hope is far superior to that of the world. Instead of wishing or hoping for something to happen, a believer knows that their hope is solid, concrete evidence because it is grounded in the Word of God and we know that God cannot lie (Heb 6:18; Num 23:19). The Christian has a hope that is “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Heb 11:1). It is a hope that is like faith…a faith that cannot be moved by circumstances or what the eyes see because an unseen God is seen because He is faithful to us, His children.
Where is your hope?
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