Maintaining Our Hope

Hope is defined by Webster as “Desire accompanied by expectation of, or belief in fulfillment; to desire with expectation of obtainment; to expect with confidence.” There is a story of a man that came up to a little league ballgame one day. He asked a boy what the score was. The boy replied, “It is 18 to nothing; we’re behind.” The man then said, “I know you’re discouraged.” Then the little boy said, “Why should I be discouraged? We haven’t even come to bat yet.” It can be said that the little boy was maintaining his hope; his desire plus his expectation of success.

Hope is essential to our success in any endeavor of life. Without hope, the desire to continue to press toward the goal loses its appeal. Without hope, prisoners of war die. Without hope, athletic teams slump and keep losing. Without hope, a student gets discouraged and drops out of school. Without hope, married couples decide to divorce. Without hope, Christians lose sight of an eternal home in heaven.

In Hebrews 6:11-12 we read, “And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end: That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” The writer of Hebrews is exhorting the Christians to have diligence and perseverance in maintaining their “assurance of hope.” Why is that? It is not because it is just a nice option, or something that would be good to do. It is because we must do this if we are going to survive spiritually and “inherit the promises.” Hope is as vital to our life and faith, as water is to fish, or oxygen to man. Man will not stay on the course toward the eternal goal without hope.

Hope is so important and necessary because life is filled with doom, despair, discouragement, defeat, and disheartenment. If we fail to maintain our hope, in distressing moments our minds will fail to focus on the better things ahead. Instead, the mind will dwell on things of life that have brought us down.

As important as hope is and as much as we may believe that there is hope ahead, we must understand that it can be very elusive. The Hebrew writer tells how to maintain our hope as he says, “be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises” (Hebrews 6:12). Diligence, faith and patience are needed to maintain our faith. Let us determine that we will not allow fatigue, frustration, failure, fear, distress, discouragement, etc. to cause us to lose sight of our hope.

Hope is a wonderful gift of God. It is a great source of strength and courage in the trials we face in life. It has been said that there is no more sustaining and transforming influence on human life, than the influence of hope. Let us see that hope:

1. Points to the light, when in a tunnel of misery.

2. Lifts our spirits, when we are discouraged.

3. Keeps us going, when we are tempted to quit.

4. Helps us to persevere, when struggling with disease and illness.

5. Gives us patience and trust, when we must wait.

6. Reminds us that God is still in control.

7. Gets us through the grief when we must say “good bye” to someone we deeply love.

The Hebrew writer tells us that “hope is the anchor of the soul” (Hebrews 6:19). Indeed, hope is the anchor by which the Christian can withstand, overcome, and endure all the trials and tribulations that one will face in life.

Our hope is not only for this life, but because of the resurrection of Christ from the dead, our hope is in that which is beyond (1 Corinthians 15:12-20). Peter reminds the Christians of this hope as he writes, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3). As we close I am remind of the words of a song by Bill and Gloria

Gaither which say: “Because He lives, I can face tomorrow;

Because He lives, all fear is gone;

Because I know, He holds the future;

And life is worth the living

Just because He lives.” –– David A. Cox