What God’s Hope Is, What It Isn’t, and Why It Matters… Hello Hump Day readers. How is your Hope ‘barometer’? In this crazy world today, Hope is something we all need yet many of us don’t ask for Hope. God’s Hope is different from what you might expect. We use the word Hope all the time to mean different things. In fact, much of what we call Hope could fall into three categories: wishful thinking, blind optimism, and personal dreams such as: “I hope I stay healthy, I hope the prime rate drops again I need some money, or I hope the Cubs don’t disappoint me this year.” All of this is truly wishful thinking but not realizing what true Hope is there for us from our precious Savior.

Another kind of hopeful attitude is blind optimism, like the guy (true story) who fell off a thirty-story building and yelled out as he passed the fifteenth floor, “Well, so far, so good!” His fall ended in death. It’s good to have an optimistic outlook but if you see everything through rose-colored glasses, you are not asking for Hope, you’re doing it with your ideas. It’s like the joke about the parents of two young twins. One boy was a depressed pessimist; the other was an incessant optimist. The parents were getting worried because each child’s personality was becoming increasingly extreme. So just before Christmas, the father said, “We need to do something to break them out of their molds.” So, they decided to put dozens of shiny new toys in the pessimist’s room, filled the optimist’s room with piles of horse manure! They were hoping this would change their attitudes—that didn’t work at all! The pessimist was afraid to break his toys so he did nothing; the optimist decided to keep digging long enough so he could get a real pony…both had not real idea of what Hope could be.

Biblical Hope is different. For most people, hoping is something that they do, but the Bible talks about Hope as something they can possess—we can actually grab hold of it! If we follow Jesus, Hope is the secure expectation that he is both willing and able to make good on the promises he has made to us. In fact, he has given us a LIVING HOPE and 1 Peter 1:3-4 tells us: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God has great mercy, and because of his mercy he gave us a new life. This new life brings us a living hope through Jesus Christ’s resurrection from death. Now we wait to receive the blessings God has for his children. These blessings are kept for you in heaven. They cannot be ruined or be destroyed or lose their beauty.”

Jesus demonstrated that he really is God and that he really does have the power to fulfill his promises in the pages of Scripture: 1) Promises to change our lives. 2) Promises to guide us. 3) Promises that he will cause good to emerge from our personal difficulties. 4) Promises that his followers will spend eternity with him.

Let’s face it: In and of itself, Hope doesn’t have any power to change reality. We Hope for this, we Hope for that, and we might feel better for a while. We may even fool ourselves into thinking everything’s okay, but—the only way Hope has any real power is when we anchor it to the God and Savior who has the real power. And not only just power, but a heartfelt desire to help us in our lives forever.

As I close this devotion, I’m thinking about Hope and how much we all need each day so… What do you think Jesus would say to you? Here it is: “Whatever you’re facing, I can infuse Hope into your life—a Hope that’s firm and secure. In fact, let ME describe for you two specific ways I can introduce Hope to you—by absolving you of your past, and by assuring you of your future.” Now that is a gift that will always be with us now and when we see our Savior in heaven—Oh, Hallelujah—AMEN!