The Necessity of Hope

ENCOURAGE

Affirmation: Hope is necessary for me.

Anchor Scripture: Romans 15:13 (KJV)

“Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost".

Have you ever felt like just giving up? Like you’ve exhausted every option and there’s no clear sign that your situation is going to change? Has your hope run so low that you feel like you’re lost at sea, tirelessly paddling to a shore you’re not even sure is there? Well, you’re not alone.

I believe every person on this earth has faced a time, or more, where they’ve felt void of hope. God isn’t surprised by this, nor should you be. The God who created you knew you would face times of despair, desperation, hopelessness, and distress, and this is where His hope comes in. The Bible tells us that true hope comes through believing and it abounds through the power of the Holy Ghost (Romans 15:13). We can have hope, but our hope alone can fizzle out over time. In order to have a hope that abounds, withstands time, and sustains us as we wait expectantly for change, answers, or fulfillment of a promise, we need to combine our faith with the power of the Holy Spirit!

Hope is a radical thing to have. I’d say it’s supernatural. It goes against the basic animalistic traits and instincts we have as humans, surpasses rationale at times, and defies faulty ideas like “seeing is believing.” Why is that? It’s because true hope requires a conscious, soul and spirit element in order for us to possess it. It doesn’t always make sense in the natural, especially when your circumstances don’t align to your hopeful expectation, but that’s the beautiful thing about hope, it’s fuel for faith and belief. The “hope,” the world purports is just like tossing a penny in a wishing well and forgetting about it. But true hope in the life of a Believer is active and acted upon. That looks like handing over to God the thing you’re hoping for, knowing that it is HIM who will bring the thing to pass, and while our hearts wait expectantly on His promises, we move by faith in the direction of that hope, guided by HIS will, not our own.

In order for us to have hope, we have to have faith. And in order for us to have faith, we must have hope. The two are interdependent and work together. Hope requires an absence or absent experience of the thing you’re anticipating and expecting. Romans 8:24-25 says, “For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.”

If you’re in a situation where you see the results you desire or were expecting, there’s no need for hope. However, when our lives, our hearts, minds, or spirits, are void of the things we are expecting and anticipating, that is when hope comes into the picture and gives you faith to stand on. Without hope, you’re stuck in the boat without a paddle. With hope, you’re in the boat, and hope is the paddle moving you towards what you’re expecting in faith.

Hope is necessary. Without it, there’s no point to keep going. There’s no point to keep praying, there’s no hope to keep pressing and believing for change to come. Dare I say there would be no point to even follow the Lord? I don’t mean this in a blasphemous way, I mean literally we could NOT follow Him without hope. Faith in the God we serve can only be materialized through hope. You see, we learn in Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

If we take this definition and break it down, we see that faith is a substance; It’s the tangible, expressed, material structure of things we eagerly anticipate (hope for). Faith furthermore is described as evidence; Or the proof, substantiation, grounds, and factual data of things you have not seen or witnessed. What does this mean for your situation?

It means that just because you don’t SEE thing thing doesn’t mean it’s not there, it doesn’t exist, it’s not forming, or not ever going to come to pass. There are some things we ought NOT to hope for, like things not in alignment with God’s will (it’d be too long to list them out). However, there are things we ought to continue hoping for by exercising the faith to believe for them.

Is your job wearing you out? This might cause you to hope for something new, which will spark the faith for the new job, which will evoke action from you. Even if you’ve had door after door close, inside of you, even while you’re weary, the only thing that keeps you applying is the hope that fueled your faith to act.

Are your relationships spiraling? This might spark hope that leads you to pray for healing and restoration in your relationships. You may not see change, but your deep longing for reconciliation and healing generates hope that will keep you moving in the direction of reconciliation.

Are you tired of being heartbroken? I’m so sorry for how people have mishandled your heart. Many people, after being perpetually disappointed in romance, choose to sit back in bitterness and say “you know what, there’s no one out there for me!” This reminds me of, “Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life (Proverbs 13:12-KJV).” The first part described is a state of disappointment and hopelessness. When you are void of hope, you give up, close off, and shut down. This is not a healthy place for people to be. When you stop hoping and moving in faith, you stay in a sick state of the heart, never reaching that place of maturity and fulfillment described as a “tree of life,” in that verse. If you continue in hope and walking in faith, you can eventually arrive to the tree of life, where you are enjoying the fruits of what labored for in faith and in partnership with God.

Are you burdened by family trauma and demonic generational patterns? If you do nothing, the pattern continues. If you stand up in hope, and be that repairer of the breach (Isaiah 58:12), things can change! God is waiting for a generation of people to be done with the darkness and live in His light. Hope will push you forward. Hope for a bloodline of blessing and not curses. Hope for a bloodline who loves and serves the Lord, rather than self, this world, and Satan. I know you’re tired, but let hope strengthen you to keep going, keep fighting, and keep believing that by FAITH, is the only way for a Believer to live and see godly change in their lives (Romans 1:17, Hebrews 11). We’re saved by grace through FAITH.

All in all, I want to encourage you to know that hope is not hopeless. Hope is not childish. Hope is necessary to keep you on this journey with God. May Christ our eternal hope, spark hope in you again today!

EQUIP

Meditation Scriptures:

Romans 15:13

Hebrews 10:23

Hebrews 11 (full chapter)

Isaiah 40:31

Romans 5:1-5

BUILD

Reflect: What are you hoping for in your life? Where have you begun to lose hope? Where in your life can you identify hope killers (i.e. delay, mockery, disappointment, doubt, fear, etc) and can you list them out?

Pray: Dear Heavenly Father, I thank You that You are the God of hope! I come to You today, asking that by the power of Your Holy Spirit, You fill me afresh with hope that abounds. In the areas of my life where I’ve lost hope, I ask that You breathe Your life on them again. In the areas where I am clinging to hope, I ask that You strengthen my faith to wait expectantly and pursue the things You’ve called me to pursue. You alone are my eternal hope. Right now, I place my full confidence in You. I know You cannot and will not fail me. Help me to let go of the things I shouldn’t cling to anymore and teach me to cling to You and the path You desire for me. Thank You for seeing me, in the middle of my situation; and I ask that You help me to see You, in all my situations. In Jesus mighty and matchless name, amen.