Hope

Hope is underrated.  We live in a world where people are desperate for it.  They try to find it everywhere and it seems to be rather difficult to obtain.  Living on a college campus, I see so many students try to find hope and acceptance in all the wrong places.  In their reputation, their fraternity/sorority, girlfriend/boyfriend, their grades, their abilities, their plans, etc.  In short, they look for hope in all the wrong places.  Sorry to be that guy, but I'm gonna reference Jeremiah 29:11.  If you are a believer, you are guaranteed a hope through God's plans.  Keep in mind that these are not our plans, but God's plans.  If we leave it to ourselves to construct our own plans and our own hope by ourselves, it will ultimately fail to bring us what we are looking for.  


Romans 5:5  And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.


Hope comes from the Trinity.  Hope is poured out by God, through the Holy Spirit, and is placed in the saving work of Jesus Christ.  Without one part of the Trinity, hope is not complete.  


1 Thessalonians 1:3  We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.


As Christians, hope is what gives us endurance to fight the good fight, kill sin, continually rely on God for strength, and ultimately finish the race that is the Christian life and the pursuit of Him.  


Isaiah 40:31  but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.


1 Corinthians 15:19  If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.


Fortunately, hope is not for this life only.  As Paul says, if we only have hope for this life on earth then we are the most pathetic people of all.  We have hope for this life that comes after.  Hope to stand before our Savior and worship and fellowship with Him forever.


If you are not a Christian, then you do not have this hope that Christians have.  What you place your value and hope in may satisfy you for a time, but that satisfaction will end.  It's just like candy, you feel horrible and empty inside after indulging in it.  However, this does not mean that you are completely hopeless.  You still have time, you still have a chance to grab hold of Christ and completely live in the hope that only He can give.  If you are a Christian, live in the freedom that comes from our hope!  Continually walk in it.  The life we live as believers is not easy, but it is certainly not without hope.