Hope – Joyfully Looking Forward

What keeps us motivated to keep fighting the good fight of faith? What keeps us propped up during challenging times? What gives us a reason to have patience? What gives us endurance in this race for the everlasting crown? Hope.

The hope we must hold onto is not the kind of hope that means "oh, I hope it happens".
True, everlasting hope is based on a foundation of faith and full confidence in God's promises.
He will not fail us.

We read in Jeremiah 29:11
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

This hope does not disappoint like the hope we have in worldly things and worldly solutions and temporal things and human beings. Anything that is of this world will disappoint us, but that which is of heaven, will not.

Apostle Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18,
"So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are temporary, but the things that are unseen are eternal."

Those who trust in the Lord will be at peace. Because we are rest assured that in the end, we are victorious. With God, we cannot and will not fail. He promises to see us through to the end of this wilderness and into His Promised Land of eternity in Heaven with Him.

The Lord tells us in Isaiah 41:10,
“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

As we journey through this life, we must continue to keep our eyes fixed on looking forward… beyond the challenges and troubles of this life… Like those who knew the promise, yet didn't have it in possession. With faith, they held onto the true, everlasting hope.

As we read in Hebrews 11:13-16,
“All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.”

We are not of this world. We are citizens of heaven, who are foreigners in this world. We are only on a short journey in which we are to grow spiritually, shine our light, lift up others and move forward towards God's promised Kingdom. We must let go of this temporary world, let go of the past, cast out the darkness and only look forward with the everlasting hope of God in our hand.

As Paul teaches in Romans 5:1-5,
“Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this grace where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.”

“We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.”

So...
"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13)