“Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see”. 

Hebrews 11:1

Hope is a word that can seem magical at times. It’s a vision for something better. We can hope for a new car. Or hope to find comfort in buying more shoes, more clothes, or that fabulous chocolate dessert! We can hope that our dreams come true or that our struggles are resolved in the exact way we want them to. But that kind of hope doesn’t really bring us the joy and peace that fills up our hearts. That kind of hope brings us a temporary feeling of giddiness, and unfortunately, it doesn’t last long. 

But real hope – joyful hope – is not a magical illusion. Joyful hope is rooted in our faith and is a gift from God! It’s a vision for something better that changes our present perspective while transforming our future.

Hebrews 11:1 explains that “Faith is the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.” So, hope is the sure and confident expectation of receiving what God has promised us. It is not an obscure illusion, but an anchor for our soul. Real hope does not doubt, because we can trust God’s faithfulness and presence in all of our circumstances whether they are good or bad.

With joyful Hope, we live continually aware that God is with us and that he is always up to something good.

I have the tendency to sink into a really dark places of hopelessness sometimes. But God is always faithful in reminding me that my hope is not lost from the results of my challenges, but my hope is alive through the Holy Spirit. God continues to show me evidence of the things I cannot see and through faith, I begin to see hope that turns each day into wonderful expectations of what HE is going to do rather than focusing my hopeless expectations of pity.

The evidence I see of God working in me, can be broken down into an Acronym of the word HOPE. My hope is restored when God shows me Healing, Overcoming, Purpose, and Eternity.

Healing– In Lamentations 3:22-24, Jeremiah affirms that the Lord is His portion so he puts his hope in and waits expectantly for God to work. He reminds us that God is faithful and his mercies are new every day! And God faithfully proves this to me still... Every. Single. Day.

I personally live with Lupus, but every day I look forward to how God will use me in spite of my pain. He has healed many other areas in my heart that I didn’t even know needed to be healed, but for some reason my physical pain remains. But my hope is constant and my walk with the Lord is intimate as I am assured that He will bring me all the strength and energy that I need to get through each day. 

You too, can look forward to God’s mercies every day! Whether they are physical, emotional or spiritual needs – you can find hope by trusting that God is faithful and by anticipating what He is going to do.

Overcoming – Our minds can be our worst enemy sometimes. We can take the smallest of things and turn them into a whirlwind of drama which steals our joy and peace (and sometimes steals it from those we love too). And when our joy and peace is lost, so is our hope.

We have to learn to retrain our brains to focus on what is good. In Philippians in 4:8-9, Paul reminds us to “Fix your thoughts on what is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Put these things into practice. Then the God of peace will be with you” and “that peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus” (vs. 7).

And when our hearts and minds are guarded by the peace of the Holy Spirit, we can overcome those thoughts that keep us from living in the joyful freedom that God promises.

Purpose -I stand in awe somedays of how God has used every bit of my past to help me serve Him better now. NEVER in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would have the courage, or even the desire, to do some of the things God has called me to. And even now, I fight those callings when I feel that I’m just not enough to fill the shoes he wants me to. But Paul encourages us in Romans 5:2-3 by reminding us that“Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory. We can rejoice too, when we run into trials, for we know that they help us endure. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not disappoint because we know how dearly God loves us”.

We can find hope in knowing that God is working for good. And even though we may not know what He is up to, and we may feel like we’ll ever figure it out, we can be assured that He is building us up and training us for a God given purpose – whatever that might be.

Eternity –“God has made everything beautiful in it’s own time and has planted eternity in our hearts. Even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end”. Solomon wrote his observations in Ecclesiastes 3 long before Jesus was sent to rescue us. But his words bring so much hope in reminding us that each season of life whether it’s good or bad, is leading us to the same place.

We can find hope in our temporary sufferings because we know that our temporary is leading us to the place in heaven that Jesus has prepared for us. We can find joy, peace and hope because Jesus came and died for you and for me.

Those who walked with Jesus while He was on earth saw the evidence of their faith on a daily basis. The disciples saw Him heal the sick and overcome the grave. He had given them a purpose to continue his work and build His church, and He assured them that they would live with him for eternity. Their sadness turned to joy. Their weaknesses turned to strength. Their fear turned to courage. And their anxiety turned to peace.

And we too can look for evidence of God at work in every tear and every sorrow, every pain and every disappointment. We can live in joyful acceptance that God is alive and at work. And as we walk with Him in Spirit, we can trust that He is transforming our hearts and minds. What evidence can you see that changes your perspective of HOPE? How can you expect God to work today?

#SaturdaySoulSearch