“We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul.”
—Hebrews 6:19
We use the word hope almost every day.
The Little Leaguer hopes to get a hit.
The high school athlete hopes to make the team.
The bride hopes for beautiful weather.
Expectant parents hope for a healthy baby.
The young applicant hopes to receive the job offer.
Sometimes these hopes are fulfilled, and sometimes they are not. Even when they are fulfilled, however, the satisfaction is often temporary.
The Little Leaguer gets the hit but is thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double. The athlete makes the team but spends most of the season sitting on the bench. The bride receives the beautiful weather she hoped for, but the caterer serves the food cold. The young applicant lands the job but soon begins hoping for a raise or promotion.
That is the nature of worldly hope. It depends upon circumstances falling into place, people keeping their promises, and events unfolding the way we want them to.
Worldly hope says, “Perhaps everything will work out.”
Biblical hope says, “God will keep His word.”
Hope and Change
Several administrations ago, a charismatic politician ran on a platform of “hope and change.” His message connected with millions of Americans because everyone longs for hope—especially when the future feels uncertain.
He made sweeping promises about affordable healthcare, including assurances that Americans would be able to keep their doctors and existing coverage. The resulting law did accomplish expanding coverage and protecting people with preexisting conditions.
However, many Americans also discovered that the promised affordability came with higher premiums, larger deductibles, fewer choices, and most people were not able to keep their doctors.
Employers faced rapidly increasing healthcare expenses. When they searched for ways to control those costs, many turned to plans with narrower provider networks and substantial deductibles. Employees may have technically retained health insurance, but they often had to shoulder far more of the expense themselves.
It turned out that “affordable healthcare” was not so affordable for everyone.
The president’s promised hope became “delayed disappointment”, while the promised change sometimes felt like the few coins people had left after paying their healthcare premiums.
I cannot speak for every American, but I know what happened to me.
My medical insurance premium was once approximately $460 per month. Before I became eligible for Medicare, it had gradually climbed to approximately $1,600 per month. Today, more than one-third of my Social Security benefit goes toward Medicare premiums and supplemental coverage.
Some of the promises were fulfilled, but they came at a tremendous cost.
That is one of the dangers of placing our hope in political leaders. Even those with the best intentions cannot control every consequence of their decisions. Their promises depend upon political cooperation, economic conditions, human competence, and circumstances that can change overnight.
Every politician promises a better tomorrow.
None can guarantee it.
Cubans heard a similar promise
Cuban families had heard the language of political hope and change before.
In Cuba, Fidel Castro gained support by promising liberation from the Batista dictatorship. Many Cubans hoped his revolution would produce greater freedom and opportunity.
Instead, that hope quickly faded.
Castro consolidated power and imposed communist rule. The promised liberation gave way to another form of repression—one that would control the Cuban people for generations.
More than six decades later, Cuba’s struggling economy and deteriorating infrastructure testify to promises of progress that never arrived for much of the population. The vintage American automobiles still traveling Cuba’s streets may appear charming to tourists, but they also serve as reminders of a nation that has experienced very little economic progress since the 1950s.
Once again, hope became delayed disappointment.
Political leaders are not the only ones who sell hope. Advertisers, motivational speakers, self-help authors, financial gurus, personal coaches, and even false religious teachers all promise to help us obtain the life we desire.
I know because I patronized several of them.
Over the years, I bought self-help books and paid coaches to help improve my performance. I sensed a need within me that I could not quite identify. Something was missing, and I kept hoping the next book, strategy, achievement, or accomplishment would finally fill the void.
I was also a very religious person. I attended church faithfully and knew a great deal about God.
But I did not truly know Him personally.
The hope I searched for in the world was much like the hope promised by politicians. It always seemed to remain just beyond my reach. Each new achievement provided temporary satisfaction, but eventually the emptiness returned.
Why?
Because everything this world offers is temporary.
Why the Word “Hope” Bothered Me
Before my spiritual awakening, hearing the word hope in a sermon bothered me.
My understanding of hope came entirely from the way the world used the word. To me, hope meant wishing for something that might—or might not—happen. It was like buying a lottery ticket and hoping I had chosen the winning numbers.
If salvation depended upon that kind of hope, how could anyone have confidence?
Shouldn’t we place more than a wishful hope in God? Shouldn’t we know whether He will allow us into heaven?
I did not understand that biblical hope is entirely different from worldly hope.
Worldly hope is a desire for something that may happen.
Biblical hope is the confident expectation that God will do what He has promised.
Biblical hope does not mean crossing our fingers and wishing for the best. It is not optimism, positive thinking, or pretending our problems do not exist.
Biblical hope means:
“God’s got this—because He said so.”
The confidence is not found in the strength of our faith. It is found in the faithfulness of the One who made the promise.
People may disappoint us.
Politicians may mislead us.
Circumstances may change.
Our health may fail.
The economy may collapse.
But God’s character never changes.
“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.”
—Hebrews 10:23
The Hope God Promised
The yearning for hope exists within every human heart because we were created for a relationship with God. We may try to satisfy that yearning through success, money, politics, pleasure, religion, or personal improvement, but none of these can give us the lasting security our hearts desire. Sometimes the things we use to fill that emptiness also become the fig leaves behind which we hide.
Only God can satisfy a longing that was created for God.
Throughout the Old Testament, He repeatedly promised that a Savior would come. From Genesis to Malachi, God revealed pieces of His plan through the prophets.
The promised Messiah would come from the offspring of a woman.
He would be a descendant of Abraham and David.
He would be born in Bethlehem.
He would bear our griefs and carry our sorrows.
He would be pierced for our transgressions.
He would suffer, die, and rise again.
Generation after generation waited for that promise to be fulfilled.
Then, more than two thousand years ago, God kept His word.
Jesus Christ, fully God and fully man, came to accomplish what we could never accomplish for ourselves. He lived the sinless life we could not live. He bore the punishment our sins deserved. He died on the cross and rose victoriously from the grave.
Promises made.
Promises kept.
Because Jesus lives, those who belong to Him possess what Peter calls “a living hope.”
“According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” —1 Peter 1:3
Our hope is living because our Savior is living.
More Than Self-Help
After completing His work on earth, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to live within every believer. The Holy Spirit comforts us, teaches us, convicts us, and helps us live in this world as we prepare for the next.
The Holy Spirit did not give us another self-help strategy. He gave us the Word of God.
The Bible does not merely teach us how to improve ourselves. It reveals who God is, exposes the sin within us, and points us to the only One who can rescue us.
Written by approximately forty human authors over many centuries, the Bible tells one unfolding story: God’s plan to redeem His people through Jesus Christ, the one mediator between God and humanity.
With the help of the Holy Spirit, the Word of God transforms us from the inside out. It replaces darkness with light, lies with truth, fear with faith, and uncertainty with hope.
This does not mean believers will always receive the outcome they desire.
The Christian may still lose the job.
The medical report may still bring bad news.
The marriage may still end.
The political leader may still break his promises.
Biblical hope does not guarantee that our circumstances will turn out the way we want. It guarantees that God will remain faithful regardless of how our circumstances turn out.
Our hope is not that this world will finally become everything we want it to be.
Our hope is that Christ has overcome the world.
A Sure and Steadfast Anchor
Human hope rises and falls with our circumstances.
Biblical hope is anchored beyond them.
When life is going well, that anchor keeps us from placing our confidence in temporary blessings. When storms arrive, it keeps us from being swept away by fear and despair.
The world says, “I hope everything works out.”
The believer says, “Even if it does not work out the way I desire, I know that God is with me, God is faithful, and God will finish what He has begun.”
That is not delayed disappointment.
That is a sure and steadfast anchor for the soul.
If you have not discovered this hope, turn toward God. Welcome His light into your heart. Place your trust in Jesus Christ, who died for your sins and rose from the grave.
The hope your heart has been searching for will never be found in a politician, a program, a possession, or another promise of personal improvement.
It can only be found in a Person.
His name is Jesus.
Your comments are welcome – please review House Rules.
To protect your anonymity use a pseudo name.
Your email will not be seen, but a fake email is ok too.
Leave a Reply