Hope in a Trying World

Hope?

As we draw nearer to the return of Jesus, our Messiah, the world around us grows darker—even confused, fearful, and uncertain. In this, hope can be like a distant memory, but in God it does not have to be…

We can walk in hope. We can be filled. And we can brighten the darkness that surrounds us through the peace, joy, and love that accompany the hope we have in God.

Join us as we discover how we can shift our focus and receive the hope of God! 

Hope 

Hope is something we all desire; to have hope in God, in who He made us to be, in the future, and even to have hope that those things God has put on our heart—through hopes, dreams, prophetic words, and the like—can and will come to pass.

The world we live in today barely has the ability to allow hope to grow. In fact, often, the world works to steal our hope…

Yet, God gave us hope. In Him, in His promises, His plans… and these can be found from one end of God’s Word to the other. They are echoes not only of who God is, but of His desires for us. Desires that are good…

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

—Jeremiah 29:11

Hope in God is key to all other hope. 

God has prepared the way for us to walk in hope in all circumstances… 

He paid the price for us to walk in faith, hope, and love. 

So, how can we do that in a world that sometimes feels like it is destroying our hope? How can we put our hope in God? Trusting in Him and His promises?

Shifting Our Focus

One key to renewing and keeping hope is found in our focus. In what we allow to hold our attention, imagination, and through them, our time.

Do the things we choose to focus on cause us to worry? To doubt? To fear? Or do they build hope?

Do the things we choose to focus on allow us to fix our eyes on God? Or do they draw us away from Him?

Certainly, we are living in a time where avoiding social media, the news, and other things that can batter our hope is not entirely possible. We cannot afford to hide away. This hour has a unique need to know the times and seasons and to maintain fellowship…

Yet, at the same time, each of us know our limits. Each of us know what we are able to handle and what we cannot. And when we find ourselves uncertain about anything—in fact, even when we think we are certain—Holy Spirit within us is ready to direct us…

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.”

—John 14:26 (emphasis added)

When we listen to Holy Spirit, when we set our eyes and our thoughts on good things, we are able to walk in hope. We are able to thrive and overcome!

“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.”

—Philippians 4:8

Giving and Receiving Hope

Acts 20:35 tell us to, “…remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

Proverbs 13:12 says that, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire comes, it is a tree of life.”

Other scriptures confirm the words of both these verses, like Luke 6:38, Luke 21:28, Romans 15:13, Numbers 23:19, Hebrews 13:8, and Jeremiah 29:11.

“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

—Romans 15:13 (emphasis added)

We are meant to give. So that the hope of God may abound in others… but also because, in giving, we open up a well. Propelling us to the manifestation of our own hope.

So, what does that mean? 

From one end of the globe to the other, the thing that many people lack is hope. Hope has been deferred, it has been questioned, and it has even, in many cases, been crushed. There is an obvious need…

But how do we fill it?

While God is the one who ultimately restores hope, fulfills it, and renews our life… there is still something God would have us do. Something to fill hope, to answer it…

We can:

• Demonstrate the love of God
• Provide testimony
• Build up others
• Proclaim life
• Walk in the fruit of the Spirit
• And So Much More!

It is more blessed to give than to receive! It is better to give hope, or the fulfillment of it, even than to receive it! 

Yet, by doing so, by giving hope, we find so much more than we would otherwise have. We find joy. We find peace…

And we find hope. Because, when we give hope to someone who did not have it, or are a part of the fulfillment of their hope, that renews hope within us too. Preparing us to receive the fulfillment of our hope instead of giving in to hopelessness or doubt! 

The hope we give, and the renewal of hope our giving brings us, allows the second half of Proverbs 13:12 to come to pass… it allows the desire of hope to become a tree of life!

Let us hope in God!

Let us give hope!

And let us receive hope!