Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.  (Hebrews 10:23)

Hope is an integral part of our faith, but what is it really?    The world tells us that hope is a feeling or a desire.   That connotation hardly works in this passage.  How can one hold fast to a feeling or a desire?  Just because we have a feeling something will happen or we desire it does not make it a certainty.  The word that Paul uses in this passage is really defined as “favorable and confident expectation”.  Therefore to hope is to trust…what the world has determined to be an archaic definition.  Sadly that’s to be expected in a world of relative truth.  However, since we have the certain truth of scripture we can in fact trust completely.

The certainty of our hope is explained in the last phrase of this passage:  “for He who promised is faithful”.  God is most certainly faithful in all circumstances.   His character will allow nothing less.  Numbers 23:19 reminds us ““God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent; has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?”  However, too often it seems that we project the limitations and character faults of our human loved ones and friends onto God, undermining our hope and turning it from a certainty to wishful thinking.  The fact that God’s plan may not align with ours does not mean that He is unable, unloving or unfaithful, or forgetful,  but rather that in His perfect wisdom and His perfect love He has chosen what is best for us as a whole …especially our souls as well as for His kingdom.  God’s invitation into a relationship with Him, Christ’s sacrifice and the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives should provide ample evidence of God’s faithfulness and resolve in seeking what is best for us on all levels and in every event of our lives.

Christ is our perfect example in all matters; the confidence with which we hope is no exception.  Luke 22:42-44 describes Christ in the moments before His betrayal.  Christ was in such agony that “His sweat became like drops of blood” as He prayed that God would release Him from the ordeal that He was about to experience; however understanding that God loving and faithful, He submitted to the Father’s will.  There are several factors that we should recognize in this event.  Christ brought His anxiety to God just as we are commanded to do.  As He prayed to God, He humbly presented His concerns yet recognizing God’s ultimate authority, submitted to the Father’s will.  In His submission, He placed His unwavering hope in the Father.  While His plea was not granted as He requested, He was ministered to and sustained.  Psalm 139:5-10 encourages us, God’s spirit is always with us and there is nowhere we are or can go that He is not there…no place and no circumstance; this was true for Christ as well.  Finally, Christ was not only concerned about Himself but also for those whom He loved.  John 17 and Luke 22:40 and 46; the former is His High Priestly prayer while the latter shows His concern for the disciples.  On the verge of being betrayed and suffering, He is still instructed His disciples and is concerned about their souls…i.e. temptation.   In all these things, Christ exhibits hope full of confident expectation.  Christ was rewarded for His trust in the Father through successfully enduring and fulfilling His mission, being glorified above all others and given His rightful place beside the Father for eternity.  While our sacrifice and our glory will never compare to that of our Savior, He is still our model for living.  By seeking God’s guidance in every matter of faith and life, humbly sharing our concerns and submitting to His will and authority, we open the door for God to work mightily in and through us in ways we could not anticipate.

Lest one fear that it’s always a matter of sustaining grace and endurance in tragedy, I would be remiss if I did not also address God’s provision of our desires.  God protected Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, spared Daniel in the Lion’s den, released Peter, and Paul and Silas from prison miraculously.  A more recent example would be George Müller.  Through his detailed records we understand that he completely relied on God’s provision and refused a salary; God was certainly faithful and provided more through donations than he would have received in wages.  Further, there were times that he had the children of the orphanage sit down to eat and thanked God for the food when there was none only to have it arrive as the blessing was finished.   While the testimony may not be as readily available, God continues to provide in inexplicable ways today.  People are healed in ways that are contrary to medical science and provisions are made through the power of prayer.  Further, God regularly provides for us in ways that are beyond our knowledge.  As we see God’s hand at work whether through provision or sustaining grace, we must certainly praise God and continue to testify to His faithfulness.

As we face both the daily routines of life as well as the physical and spiritual trials that come our way, we should always express our hope without wavering as our God is faithful in all matters.  Sometimes He provides as we ask, sometimes He provides beyond what we can imagine and sometimes He sustains us; but He is always with us, always understands us and is always faithful.  Our ultimate confession of hope concerns our souls as we expectantly look forward to eternity …eternity in the presence of the Almighty God and all of the forgiveness and perfection that goes with it.  Hope in God without wavering as “hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us”. (Romans 5:5)

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

Will