Blog by Rachel Brown
The alarm goes off, it’s time to get out of bed and for some of us it’s just difficult to face the day. For some of you it is a struggle:
– to face the day because you thought your life would look different
– to face the day because you have anxiety and worry
– to face the day because you have a broken heart
– to face the day because of stress over relationship or financial issues
The list could go on and the struggle is real.
BUT – don’t you just love the “but’s” of life!! The word of God has some great truths and offers great hope for us. In John 16:33 (NIV), the Bibles say, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
How can we take heart, how can we have hope when the struggle seems so real?
The Biblical use of hope is different from how our culture would perceive hope. Hope outside of Christ is more like a wish (I hope that happens). Hope that the Bible refers to is certain hope– a hope you can build your life on, a hope you can anchor your soul to. It’s not wishing, it’s not feeling, it’s not simply expecting but it’s knowing for certain that you are going to have what you hoped for.
In Hebrews 11:1 (NIV), it says, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”
Faith and hope go together. You can’t have faith without hope. Hope is the joyful anticipation of good. It’s easy to have hope when your circumstances are good but when things aren’t looking good that’s another level.
Hope is activated when your circumstances are saying one thing but you choose to stand on God’s word that speaks hope into your circumstance.
Hebrews 6:19a (TLB) says, “This certain hope of being saved is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls”.
This certain hope has 3 characteristics:
1. It is strong
Psalm 91:1-2 (NIV)
Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
2. It is trustworthy
Psalm 89:8 (NCV)
Lord God All-Powerful, who is like you? Lord, you are powerful and completely trustworthy.
3. It is an Anchor
An anchor has 2 purposes:
1. To stop you from drifting
2. To stabilize you in a storm
How do we build our life on this certain hope, when the struggle is real?
1. Trust God for the result
“When everything was hopeless, Abraham believed anyway, deciding to live not on the basis of what he saw he couldn’t do but on what God said he would do.” Romans 4:17 (msg)
– When we say, “I can’t”, God says “I will”
– Stand on the word of God
– Stand on the promises of God
– To stand on the word of God, you have to know what it says
2. Don’t focus on your own ability
– Abraham was not looking at the natural (his or Sarah’s inadequacies, he held onto the promise.
“Abraham didn’t focus on his own impotence and say, “It’s hopeless. He plunged into the promise and came up strong, ready for God, sure that God would make good on what He had said.” Romans 4:18 (msg).
It is a process to develop this certain hope in our lives. But be encouraged in the process. Sometimes we are praying for an Oak Tree and God gives us an acorn. Learn to steward the answer that comes in seed form