Hope In …?

What or who do you put your hope in? Where do you find your hope? A relationship? The stock market? The amount of “likes” on your Social Media posts? Or maybe you put your hope in your job or college degree. Yourself? Maybe you’re dealing with a chronic illness and you’ve put your hope in a doctor and the latest medical discovery. Or maybe you’ve just lost hope all together.

Merriam-Webster defines Hope as this: to expect with confidence : TRUST* 

And Hopeless as this: having no expectation of good or success : despairing : incapable of redemption or improvement*

Where do you fit in these definitions?  If you connect with the definition of “Hope” then I’ll ask again; What are you putting that hope in? And if you’re feeling hopeless, I am here to tell you there is a hope you can regain if you put it in the right thing.

We can hope for a lot of different things, like; our children to grow up and be successful at whatever they set out to do; our marriages to last till death do us part; our teacher/professor to grade with a curve so we get a better grade then we might deserve; babies to sleep through the night; fill in the blank. But there’s a difference in what we hope for and what we put our hope in.

Putting hope in fluctuating and ever-changing circumstances is uncertain and foolish. Is it good to put all your hope in something as unsteady and unreliable as the economy? Or your job that could be lost? Or even a relationship since people are just human and can let us down when they don’t meet our expectations. And if we look at the definition of  hope, can we TRUST these things?

Why would I put my hope in something so unpredictable? To be tossed about like a ship on the waves? Wouldn’t you rather put your hope in something sure and unchanging? Solid and strong. Something you can trust. Something or Someone who is ever-lasting and is unaffected by the stock-market, your college degree or job.

And if you’ve lost hope, here’s where you can find it: We are told in a the book of Hebrews in the Bible that God is the unchanging One whom we can put our hope in and trust it to encourage us and secure us.

“Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath.  God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged.  We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.”
Hebrews 6:17-19a (NIV)*

 

 

I don’t know about you, but this is what I put my hope in, the sure foundation, the unchanging God. My hope is in Jesus, the anchor for my soul, firm and secure.
What is your hope in? Each moment we spend putting our hope in the things that are ever-changing and not lasting is a treasure lost, but when we put our hope in the One who is unchanging and ever-lasting, anchoring ourselves to the firm and secure One, we are given the precious treasure of His unfailing love.

“But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love.” Psalm 33:18 (NIV)*

There is no one or no thing that is more deserving or worthy of putting the precious gift of your hope in.

 

 

 

* https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hopeless

* https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hopeless

*Zondervan NIV Archaeological Study Bible The Zondervan Corporation, 2005