Hope against hope.
Words are important.
Have you ever communicated something that was received in a different way than you intended? Miscommunication can be frustrating, especially as we all desire to be seen, heard, and understood. Due to our background, our experiences, and possibly even our location, we may have differing meanings or contexts for words. A simple definition can change everything.
This is especially true when reading the Bible. It’s important to take into account that we are reading a translation from the original Hebrew and Greek languages. And there’s various English translations at that. This is why I love to go back to the original language and study, especially when a word stands out.
Last night at our Bible study, we were talking about “hope.”
What do you hope for?
When I think of hope, I think of a wish or desire. The dictionary defines hope as “a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.”
But Biblical hope is different.
One verse that came to mind about hope was Hebrews 11:1, which is defining faith for us. Have a look.
“Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen.”
Hope in the Biblical sense means to expect or trust that something will happen. Do you see how that is different from a wish or desire? But there’s another important word we cannot miss here. The word for “assurance” means confidence.
In other words, faith is saying - I don’t merely wish for an outcome, but I am confident and expectant in what I cannot see. I believe God for this outcome. John Piper puts it this way, “Biblical hope is biblical faith in the future tense.” Hope is always future oriented. Faith is trusting Jesus with our past, present, and future. My faith is in the person of Jesus Christ to carry it all out to completion. I have confidence in Him.
Our faith and hope are interconnected. I cannot help but think of what Jesus said about faith.
To the centurion who sought healing for his servant, Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment.” Matthew 8:13
To the blind men Jesus said, “According to your faith let it be done to you”; and their sight was restored.” Matthew 9:29
To His disciples, Jesus said, “Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Mark 11:22-24
Friends, don’t miss this. As you have believed. According to your faith. Whoever says and does not doubt - whatever you ask -believe - and it will be yours. This should change the way we pray! This should challenge our faith.
When we pray, do we truly believe God for it? Or in the back of our minds do we question? Do we doubt? If we do not approach Him in confidence, we are being faithless about what we are asking.
Hebrews 4:16 tells us to boldly approach the throne of God. We are to come in confidence.
When all else seems to go against you, when your circumstances prove otherwise, have faith anyway. Have hope anyway.
I keep going back to Romans 4. It’s powerful.
“The promise comes by faith… Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations. Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.”
Abraham believed AND SO became.
What are you believing God for today?
