Three: A New Hope
When you trusted in jesus…
We all know what it is to have hope. Whether it’s a passionate belief that your favorite team would pull out the victory, the hopeful assurance that countless hours of studying would pay off with a good grade or even waking up Christmas morning with the childlike faith that your dream present has been neatly deposited under the tree, hope can be found in many places and many things. Simply put, hope is that internal belief that things will be better in the future, despite the future still being…well, the future. Unknown.
Hope is also a vital fuel, as with it, the human spirit can endure almost anything. There have been people across generations who survived some of the worst conditions and most horrific events on nothing more than the belief that if they just kept moving forward, the nightmare would eventually end and joy awaited them on the other side. On the other hand, if you have no hope, nothing to look forward to or live for, it can cause brokenness, lack of motivation, and, in extreme cases, desperation, destruction and rage. When you trusted in Jesus, you gained a New Hope.
In this world, our hope is often placed in people, circumstances and things. One of the challenges with this kind of hope is that it’s often misplaced. In your heart, you hoped the relationship with your best childhood friend would last forever, only to find out they betrayed you, or life circumstances took them somewhere else, or you just grew apart as your interests and values changed. When hope in these temporary things proves to be misplaced, it can be painful to the heart, even traumatic. The New Hope I am talking about is different.
The New Hope you have received is one found in God and the promises He has given you—and they are many! For those without God, the two greatest fears most have are 1) death and 2) that their life will be forgotten, or that it never mattered to begin with. This New Hope in God is one where death is not final, as you will be raised to new life in heaven, and where the things you did in this life with God-honoring purpose are faithfully recorded, remembered and follow you into eternity. Let that reality and hope sink in.
As you learn to keep this hope before your heart and mind— knowing God knows and sees the hidden good deeds and the injustices suffered, and that it all matters to Him—it can empower you to overcome many of life’s greatest challenges. He will make it right, if not in this life, then in the next. You now live with the promise that not even death can overcome you, as it did not overcome the One with whom you have entrusted your life. So be encouraged and remember the words of Jesus Himself:
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (John 14:1-3).