Unpacking the way to biblical hope

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I specifically asked if I could write a piece once I heard Mitzi was doing a series over the word hope. I don’t know why, and I remember thinking “WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!” about an hour after I sent her a text.

Who am I, a college student who sometimes eats cereal for dinner, to think that I can write a piece over a word that carries such a strong meaning? But God put a lot on my heart about this word, even before I read Mitzi’s first post- so here I am, ambitiously typing on my laptop, HOPING that my words meet you all kindly.

Hope is a word that I use almost daily. I don’t use it with power or intensity, in fact, often I underscore it’s meaning…

“I hope it doesn’t rain today.”

“I hope my professor extends this deadline.”

“I hope I get off work early.”

The definition given in the concordance of my Bible is… “confident trust with the expectation of fulfillment”, and none of my uses of hope meet that definition. So, I sat down and really started to unpack what it means to have biblical hope in something. When you have biblical hope, you have FAITH in God and TRUST that He will provide, usually in a situation that is difficult.

I was talking with a friend a couple nights ago about how God does not call the qualified, but qualifies the called–meaning that there is HOPE for us broken sinners, that the Creator of the Universe can and will choose to use us for His glory.

We can HOPE and trust that despite the obstacles that face us daily, despite the best efforts of the enemy, God remembers His children and walks alongside us. True hope comes down to one thing–Jesus. We can hope in God’s promise that His son will return, because we have confident trust in the Lord we serve to fulfill his promises. So if we can have hope in a promise so large, so grand, that we spend our lives serving the One who promised it- can we not also have hope in the daily struggles we face.

So this week, as we come upon Easter and intentionally reflect on the great acts of our God, I am going to focus on not only the hope that God will fulfill his ultimate promise, but also rest in the hope that He is there every other day in the same way.

Hope, in my chapter of life, means trusting and waiting on God in times that pressure or shake me. Hope looks like standing tall, regardless of the rain and wind that tries to sway me.

In this week before Easter, where we are reminded of God’s consistency in fulfilling his promises, ask yourselves these questions.

1. What circumstances has God brought you through that looked hopeless at the time? How did He, in his absolute goodness, bring you through those times?
2. Maybe you’re struggling right now- ask yourself how you can look or see hope in a situation that is less than ideal.
3. Ask yourself how you want to define hope- you don’t have to use my definition, you can change it and alter it so that it provides more meaning personally.

With love to all,

Kaitlyn

‘Unpacking the way to biblical hope’ by Kaitlyn Harris first appeared on www.peacefullyimperfect.net