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Oct 12, 2015 1304

“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer” (Rom. 12:12).

Most people understand hope as wishful thinking, as in “I hope something will happen”. This is not what the Bible means by hope. The biblical definition of hope is “confident expectation”. Hope is a firm assurance regarding things that are unclear and unknown. This kind of hope is a fundamental component of the life of a person who has accepted the gospel.

No one has a hope greater than a committed Christian has. No matter what afflictions may trouble us in this life we can face them patiently because we have a hope that transcends even death itself.

We read in Psalm 28:7 that the righteous who trust or put their hope in God will be helped, and they will not be confounded, put to shame, or disappointed (Isaiah 49:23).

Earlier in the same epistle to the Romans (chapter 5:2-5), Paul says: “Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

If we cling to the Lord in prayer, we cling to a rock that shall never be moved because he is our security at all times. This is real hope.