The Definition of Hope

Psalm 9:10 Those who know your name will trust in you, for you LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.

Psalm 28:7 The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.

Psalm 143:8 Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.

Romans 15:13 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.

With two busy teenagers, I find myself driving from place to place quite a bit in this season of my life. I love to listen to Christian radio stations as I am taxiing my precious cargo around town, and whenever I hear inspiring words on the radio, I grab a pencil and whatever paper I can find, and quickly write it down.  As I was cleaning out my car this past week, I came across a handwritten note, scribbled across the back of a store coupon:

"Because of Jesus, we have hope. And hope changes everything."

How true! Yes, Jesus truly is our hope! Yet as I began to think about these words of truth written hastily on the back of my coupon, I realized that the word hope can really be quite generic.  We tend to use the word "hope" frequently, but what does the word "hope" really mean? We can hope for a change in the weather, and we can hope for a great parking spot at the grocery store when it is pouring rain.  But we can also hope for medical tests to turn out in our favor, or we can hope for a lost loved one to come to know the LORD... 

I decided to look up the definition of the word "hope." Merriam-Webster defines it as a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen. To be honest, I found this definition to be a little less than inspiring. As I read further down the page, the dictionary gave the "archaic" definition... the definition that is considered "old", and "no longer used"...  there, on the page, it was written: hope -- a feeling of trust. Yes. Perfect. 

"Because of Jesus, we have trust.  And this feeling of trust changes everything."

The hope we have in Jesus is a deeply rooted trust in Him. It is a trust that lightens our burdens... a trust that gives us a peace that passes all understanding. It is a trust that we are His; dearly loved and cherished... a trust that we are held in His mighty hands, never to be let go. 

Because of Jesus, we have hope. And this hope does indeed change everything. We hope in His goodness, in His mercy and in His faithfulness.  We hope in His healing, His provision and His protection. We hope in the One who repairs, redeems, and transforms. And we hope in His promises, so clearly revealed in His Word. 

Dear Heavenly Father, I thank You for giving us hope through the gift of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Father, You sent Your only Son so that we could know Him, believe Him, and have eternal life through Him. LORD, we place our hope in Jesus, the One who changes everything. He is the One who redeems and He is the One who transforms. My heart trusts in You, LORD -- You are my Strength, my Shield, and my Peace. I praise You and thank You for hope -- that deeply rooted feeling of trust -- that can only come from You. In Jesus' name I pray.  Amen.