The Scriptures have considerable to say on the subject of hope. And yet I am convinced that many of us are not enjoying and appreciating our hope as we should, simply out of a failure to really understand what it is and how it affects us.<\/p>\n
Hope is that which reaches off into the future and attaches itself to that which we both desire and expect to receive. It is not necessarily affected by externalities but is a mental persuasion that, even in the face of extreme persecution or intense pain, remains strong and active. As such, it becomes at once a strong and vital force in fighting such things as discouragements, failures of various sorts, frustrations, and even death itself. Is it any wonder that the Hebrew writer calls it “the anchor for the soul”?<\/p>\n
Hope is composed of two ingredients — desire and expectation. In the absence of either, there is no real hope. For instance, I may desire a thing that I cannot possibly expect to receive; such would not be hope. I may expect a thing that is not at all desirable; such, likewise, would not be hope. But when I greatly desire a thing and have a warm expectation of receiving that thing, that is hope. And what a blessing!<\/p>\n
It is hope which keeps us on the right course. Just as an electronic homing signal keeps the pilot of the aircraft on course, our hope keeps us following the proper heading. It is our hope which gives us the point of fixation needed to “keep our bark aright.” Without it, we would not have the goal we need to look to.<\/p>\n
Hope lightens our load. It is our hope which makes us unaware of even the hardest burden. The presence of hope makes it possible for us to overcome seemingly insuperable obstacles, It causes us to have a healthy disposition toward trials and hardships, too, giving us the fuel to overcome and the virtue to persevere. When a person can see the journey’s end, the path toward it somehow seems far less severe. And even though the path may be strewn with obstacles of various sorts, hope makes it possible for us to see far less of them than we do the light at the end of the way.<\/p>\n
And hope intensifies our desires, too. When we conclude that a thing is possible, we suddenly realize the strength to carry on so as to achieve the goal. In fact, our conviction becomes a far more workable tool once we have realized the possibility of success. Hope is like a “second wind” to an athlete who needs it to finish a long and difficult run. Is it any wonder that hope and faith are connected together (Cf. Hebrews 11:1)?<\/p>\n
Hope provides confidence. In II Peter 1:4 Peter says, “Whereby are given to us exceeding great and precious promises, that by these ye might become partakers of the divine nature….<\/em>” Notice that it is the promises which provide us with the confidence we need. What a balm for the weary!<\/p>\n And hope is our connection to heaven. Without it, we would not be able to visualize the joy that awaits the faithful. Truly, “hope springs eternal”!<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Dee Bowman via Plain Talk, November 1977 The Scriptures have considerable to say on the subject of hope. And yet I am convinced that many of us are not enjoying and appreciating our hope as we should, simply out of a failure to really understand what it is and how it affects us. Hope…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[502],"class_list":["post-60588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-hope"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":48902,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-made-god-say-that-abraham-will-be-the-father-of-the-nation\/","url_meta":{"origin":60588,"position":0},"title":"What made God say that Abraham will be the father of the nation?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 18, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What made God say that Abraham will be the father of the nation? Answer: God promised Abraham that he would become the father of many nations. See:\u00a0How was Abraham famous? God didn't have to offer that promise. He chose to make that promise and through that promise we see\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":50872,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/faith-is-the-evidence\/","url_meta":{"origin":60588,"position":1},"title":"Faith is the Evidence","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 31, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"by\u00a0Doy Moyer \"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen\" (Hebrews 11:1, NASB). Some translations say that faith is the \"evidence\" of things not seen (KJV, NKJV). What does this mean? We often point out that faith is not blind. Because of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21186,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/will-faith-and-hope-still-exist-in-heaven\/","url_meta":{"origin":60588,"position":2},"title":"Will faith and hope still exist in heaven?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 2, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a question from I Corinthians 13 about faith, hope, and love with the greatest of these being love. I have led public prayers in which I prayed something like this \"to bless us with faith, hope, and love. For one day we will close our eyes in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":38235,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/your-strong-position-in-your-introduction-gives-me-hope\/","url_meta":{"origin":60588,"position":3},"title":"Your strong position in your introduction gives me hope","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 2, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Thank you for your position.\u00a0 The challenge to stand firm on His Word and proclaim the Word without compromise is strong. Reading your\u00a0introduction statement\u00a0gives me hope.\u00a0 God bless. Answer: Thank you for the kind words.","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17489,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/isnt-eternal-life-guaranteed-so-how-can-we-talk-of-hope\/","url_meta":{"origin":60588,"position":4},"title":"Isn’t eternal life guaranteed? So how can we talk of hope?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 18, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: We speak of \"hope\" a lot. Hope in eternal life is great, but the idea of hoping doesn't mean a guarantee. If I hope for something, then I am thinking it may happen. With the critical issue of eternal life, one does not want to rest in the idea\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":86822,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/hope-in-the-place-of-despair\/","url_meta":{"origin":60588,"position":5},"title":"Hope in the Place of Despair","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 26, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by David Gibson \"For there is hope for a tree, when it is cut down, that it will sprout again, and its shoots will not fail. Though its roots grow old in the ground and its stump dies in the dry soil, at the scent of water it will flourish\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tree-from-stump-300x200.avif","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60588"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60588\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}