Set My Hope
“Hope, as you will find, is a skill that takes practice.” - Edward Welch
Even though I long to lead and love well, I can allow the subtle, yet rigorous expectations of work, family, and ministry to rob me of hope and lead my heart into distracted and discouraging places.
As life gets busier, my priorities shift, my confidence wanes, and hope is diminishing. As life grows more complicated, I grow less satisfied in Jesus. I can become so easily distracted by circumstances and the busyness of life, that I lose sight of what I am putting my hope in.
When our focus slips, we lose sight of Jesus and start to sink. Our hearts and minds drift away. Maybe we sink into worry, fear, panic, or anxiety. Maybe we wander into doubt and question our worth or God’s love and goodness. Maybe we start to think God is unfairly holding out on us.
We see in Matthew 14, focused on Jesus, Peter experiences the miracle with Jesus. Everything is fine until Peter shifts his gaze from Jesus to the wind and waves around him. When Peter takes his eyes off Jesus and focuses on the seemingly unfavorable circumstances surrounding him, he starts to sink. He loses sight of the object (the Person of Jesus) of his hope.
What is hope? “Hope” in Scripture means “a strong and confident expectation.” Hope is an indication of certainty.
God’s Word says in Hebrews 6:18, “So that by two unchangeable things [His promise and His oath] in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled [to Him] for refuge would have strong encouragement and indwelling strength to hold tightly to the hope set before us.” AMP
God sets hope before us. Think about that, if we are going to have a confident expectation, He set Himself in front of us, so we will set our hope on Him, not our busyness, not our tasks, not our screens, and not our agendas.
Paul describes Jesus Christ as “our hope” (1 Timothy 1:1) and “the blessed hope” (Titus 2:13). Jesus not only came to bring hope. He is our hope.
The confidence we need to put our hope in Jesus grows from our insight into who He is. And that requires investing in that understanding. The more we understand God's Word, the more we understand our own identity and place in the world.
When we as believers speak of hope, we don’t mean a desire that may or may not be fulfilled. No, our hope is certain. Our hope for forgiveness, reconciliation with God, and eternal life, rests on the finished work of Jesus.
No man has the power to change the greatest enemies that face every generation. It is foolish to put our hope in man. Man has no power to change the human heart, to deliver from sin, to take away the darkness, or stop the certainty of death. When Jesus is your future you can set your heart, your thoughts, your faith, and your hope in Him because he cannot fail and He will never change.
God is called “the God of Hope.” This means He is the source of all real hope. If we are going to have hope (confident expectation), it must come from Him for He alone has the power to give it.
Romans 15:13 - “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
God desires to show, prove, demonstrate, point out, reveal and display HOPE.
1 Peter 1: 13- “Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
In other words, there is an active choice to line up our hope as a target for God. We simply show up and “set our hope” by aligning it in a position to receive grace to enjoy God. Setting our hope on God includes removing all that diminishes our affections, such as bitterness, lust, and being over-stimulated by entertainment, or the pursuit of gaining things and influence. We must not underestimate the power of setting our hope on God.
Hope takes practice. Hope takes faith. Hope takes work. Hope must be an active word in our vocabulary. Hope doesn’t just arrive. Hope must be invited in. Hope must be welcomed. Hope must be practiced. We do not recline into hope. Hope is a choice.
To have Biblical hope is not an escape from reality or difficult circumstances. It doesn’t leave us idle or drifting. If the object of our hope is centered on God, it will move us to action. Hope moves us forward. Hope energizes the present. Hope increases our faith. Hope sanctifies. Hope has influence. Hope stabilizes. Hope defends.
Are you feeling discouraged and depleted? Is your hope waning?
Consider the object of your hope. What are you hoping for? Who are you hoping in? What is it that consumes your thoughts and informs your hope?
Friends, it is this hope that must shape and support all our other hopes. It is this hope that must set us apart as God's people.
This world lacks hope. Human beings are clamoring to fill their empty lives with something. People need to know that Jesus came to bring hope, that he is our hope, and that our hope is alive. God has us here for a purpose- to be a light of hope that needs to be seen; to be a voice of truth that needs to be heard; to be a demonstration of love that needs to be experienced.
-MH
