Hope Against Hope

Romans 5:3-5 And we are also happy with the troubles we have. Why are we happy with troubles? Because we know that these troubles make us more patient. And this patience is proof that we are strong. And this proof gives us hope. And this hope will never disappoint us. We know this because God has poured out his love to fill our hearts through the Holy Spirit he gave us.

Without hope, life just isn’t worth living. So many people, even those who say that they believe in Jesus, are living lives of quiet and sometimes desperate hopelessness. And yet anyone who believes in Christ has such a great and certain hope, because one day … one day, we’re going to be reunited with God.

The meaning of the word “hope” in the Bible is really quite different to its common vernacular meaning today. When we hope for something, generally it has a sense of uncertainty about it.

I hope I get a promotion at work. I hope that the scans didn’t detect cancer. I hope the kids get home safely after the party tonight. I hope it doesn’t rain tomorrow and ruin our picnic … that sort of thing. It’s an uncertain kind of hope because pretty much, all those things are out of our control. So hoping for a good outcome, actually, has little or no bearing on the outcome.

But the biblical word for “hope” is different. It doesn’t leave any room for uncertainty.

And we are also happy with the troubles we have. Why are we happy with troubles? Because we know that these troubles make us more patient. And this patience is proof that we are strong. And this proof gives us hope. And this hope will never disappoint us. We know this because God has poured out his love to fill our hearts through the Holy Spirit he gave us. (Romans 5:3-5)

I love it here, how God, the Holy Spirit, talks through the Apostle Paul, about “hope” in the context of troubles and suffering. When you think about it, that’s when we really need hope. And the effect of this hope; the hope that God pours into our hearts as He fills us with His Spirit, is that it lifts our spirit, in the midst of trouble.

That’s what hope is all about. It’s knowing that there’s a better tomorrow, even though today is a bleak and awful day. But note this very carefully: the sort of hope that God is giving you here, is the sort that never, ever, ever disappoints. Ever.

So … from now on, whenever you read the word “hope” in the Bible, you need to read it as “certain hope”. Anything else completely misses the point.

That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.

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• Blessing
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• The Holy Spirit