Hope. It’s a word that we don’t really think about much. We also use the word quite easily. Just imagine just the following voices “I hope you have a nice day”, “I hope we win the cricket game on Saturday”, “I hope the teacher won’t check our homework”, “I hope she goes home and cries in a corner “. We easily say that we hope for something to happen, but often it’s just a wish – there’s no guarantee that it will happen. Sometimes we even use our ‘hope’ to wish other people ill (as in the last example).
What do we mean when we say that we are “hopeful” for something? This means that we expect or wish that something will happen in the future. That’s one part of hope (Future). But that’s not all that it is. We also hope based on things that happen to us already (Now). We also have an expectation because we have already experienced how other things happened (Past).
For example: I hope my birthday party will be fun. Why? I was at a friend’s birthday party and it was fun (past). My party is around the corner and people talking about it (Now), so I expect my party to be fun too (Future).
Faith and hope go hand in hand. Because we believe that Jesus gave us freedom when he died on the cross and rose again, we also have an expectation of God. In the book of Hebrews the following idea of faith and hope is given:
“Faith means being sure of the things we hope for and knowing that something is real even if we do not see it.” (Hebrews 11:1 NCV)
God showed us through Jesus that He loves everyone. It’s a fact. If it is not, He would never have come to Earth. God also does not change, He loves you just as much today as He did yesterday, because it’s not about who we are but who God is. Also, as we read this week in our Pitstops, Holy Spirit was given to us – when we trust in God, His Spirit lives in us.
So if God does not change, and His Spirit lives in us, what does that mean for us? Remember that hope has three parts? God’s Holy Spirit is living in us (Now), He has proved His love through Jesus (Past) and God does not change (Future). Therefore, we hope that God’s love will shine through us to the rest of the world today and every day thereafter.
See, if we journey in life with Jesus, our hope is not in earthly things (such as a cool computer, or that we would look pretty for the matric dance). Earthy things change and grow old. Our hope is rather in the certainty of the love that God has already shown, is showing now, and that He will show in the future. That’s why we can have true faith.
