Hopeful Heart

 

A Hopeful Heart.  Hope is one of those words that can be misleading, at least in the Biblical sense.  “I hope so” or “Here’s hoping it happens” are phrases I hear.  It is almost as if hope can be replaced with wish.  I am sure I have said those phrases myself!  Hope, in that context, seems to give off the air of uncertainty.  Maybe what I am hoping for will be attained.  Maybe it will come to fruition.  I am not sure it will occur, but I really wish it does.  Not sure if this is in my future, but I hope it is.

 When we really delve into the word hope, there is so much more there to unpack.    As Christians, hope brings about a much stronger sense of actualization, a stronger sense of certainty.  Our hope is rooted in the Lord.  My friends, there is no ‘wishful thinking’ when it comes to Jesus.  With our Lord, we can move from wishful thinking to confident expectation.  The key word is confident.  When we pray to Jesus, we bring our confident hope that He is listening.  We can stand firmly in the knowledge that He will see us, hear us, answer us, and love us.

 Jesus’ hope is far different than earthly hope.  Jesus’ hope is rooted in the trust we have for Him.  Trusting that God knows best for our lives, we can have confidence that our future will be His plan, as long as we follow where He wants to take us.  When we hope in the Lord, our future is set and our strength is renewed.  This is where the basis of simple faith begins.  I have heard people discuss faith as if it were a difficult thesis that needed to be dissected.  I look at faith in a much more simplistic way.  Hebrews 11:1 says it best, “Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” 

 As Easter approaches, we are reminded of what Jesus did for us, how He fulfilled prophecy, for our souls, for our hearts.  His death on the cross gave us the hope for an eternal life with Him.  Our hope is grounded in the knowledge that we will see Jesus’ face one day.  With that hope, we are able to get through life on earth.  During the difficult and challenging times, when our strength is wavering, we can hope, with confidence and trust, that Jesus will see us through those times.  It may not be the result that we were expecting, but we can be assured that it is the plan that He has for us when we put our hope in Him.

 Hope is there for all of us.   When life has us wondering if we can move forward, fall softly into Jesus’ arms and know that your hope for the future is with Him.  Have simple faith and gain strength from the hope He provides.

 Video that complements this post:  Hopeful Heart

  Dearest Lord, we thank you for being assured that our hope lies in you!  Thank you for giving us confidence for tomorrow and the faith to know you have us in your loving arms.  Amen!