We hear it all the time don’t we? ‘I hope church is over soon so I can go get something to eat!’ Or, ‘I hope I do well on this test [that I didn’t study for].’ Or ‘You’re my only hope.’ The point is, for as much as we reference and speak about hope, do we actually understand hope and how it is to be exercised in a Christian’s life?

All around us tragedies occur; lives end, dreams crumble and successes fade. For many, the future is looking pretty bleak–but for Christians, even amidst all these things, life should look different. When the stock market crashes (and it will), when the hurricanes hit, when our families suffer loss, or when the very core of our faith is tested, we still have our Hope to hold on to.

It is not in knowing that we will be able to make things work out, and it is not in knowing that somehow we can change circumstances to work in our favor. It is about knowing a Savior who has promised to work on the behalf of those who love him (Romans 8:28). Hope gives us strength and confidence for running the race, fighting the good fight and enduring the trials that will continue in this life. David, in Psalm 42:5, tells himself to “hope in God.” We know from the Word and from our own lives that we have never trusted in God and been shut out or left to our own solutions. As we hope in God and give ourselves to his care, we can let the world see that he is trustworthy and faithful.