Finding Hope
Happy Summer! We hope you all are enjoying this season with your families.
We tend to throw around the term “hope” and use it in all sorts of ways. We used it as a greeting above: “hope you have a great summer!” It’s also common to hear: “hope you feel better” or “hope to see you soon!” These are all a common part of friendly conversation, but our everyday use of the word can cause us to forget the power of hope in our lives, and the danger hopelessness can create.
Habakkuk was a prophet in the last days of the southern kingdom of Judah (right before the Babylonians invaded, their country dismantled and the people exiled). Things were a complete mess. The leadership was corrupt, the people stopped following God, and everyone was out for selfish gain. The poor were exploited. Habakkuk was distressed and distraught about the circumstances so he asked God why he wasn’t intervening. When God revealed his plan to use the terrifying Babylonians to administer justice, hopelessness threatened Habakkuk. But then he remembered where God is and who God is.
Why is it important for us to find hope? Hopelessness is a dangerous (and unnecessary for a believer) place to be. Hopelessness leads to discouragement and despair. It keeps us from living to our full potential. It takes our eyes off the Lord.
What is a first step toward finding hope? Remembering where God is. Remembering that God is still on his throne.
“But the Lord is in his holy Temple. Let all the earth be silent before him.”
Habakkuk 2:20 NLT
Regardless of how things appear, regardless of how things are in this moment in your life, God is on His throne. He is still in control.
The next step: remember who God is.
“When the fig tree does not bud, and there are no grapes on the vines; when the olive trees do not produce, and the fields yield no crops; when the sheep disappear from the pen, and there are no cattle in the stalls, I will rejoice because of the Lord; I will be happy because of the God who delivers me!
The sovereign Lord is my source of strength. He gives me the agility of a deer; he enables me to negotiate the rugged terrain.”
Habakkuk 3:17-19 NET
Habakkuk is rejoicing not out of a naive feeling, but because he knows God is all powerful, good, kind and that he keeps his promises. Habakkuk is drawing strength from the source of all strength. He is basing his hope on the source of all hope. He is drawing joy from the source of all joy.
But what exactly is hope?
“Hope is the confident expectation of God’s ultimate blessing in this life and the life to come, based upon the goodness and promises of God. With Jesus, there is always hope.”
Nicky Gumbel
Finally, in seeking to regain hopefulness, it is beneficial to remember who we are: those of us who follow Jesus and have put our faith in him are children of God. We are children of God, who is on his throne and who is all powerful and good.
“We who have run for our very lives to God have every reason to grab the promised hope with both hands and never let go. It’s an unbreakable spiritual lifeline, reaching past all appearances right to the very presence of God where Jesus, running on ahead of us, has taken up his permanent post as high priest for us, in the order of Melchizedek.”
Hebrews 6:18-20 MSG
We have every reason to find hope in Jesus and when we do, to never let go. It’s an “unbreakable spiritual lifeline” linking us to the promises of God in Jesus.
“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.”
Romans 15:13 NIV