Get Your Hopes Up

Americans often use the phrase, “I sure hope so” with kind of a sad sigh and it really means “I wish” as if they’re throwing pennies into a well and maybe it’ll happen and maybe it won’t. Or if they’re really unhopeful, they will say, “I hope so”, but what they actually mean is, “I doubt it.” However, Biblical hope is quite the opposite! Biblical hope means “I know so! I am confident it will happen because God said He would do it. I know God will keep His word!”

If faith is the assurance of things we hope for, if faith is the conviction of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1)… then faith is believing for something that has not yet come to pass. And that in it’s very nature requires us to hope. That’s why I have always said, “DO get your hopes up.” And steward your hope to keep it high.

Do not fear hope.

Don’t fear being let down. When we walk out our lives afraid to hope because we’re afraid of being disappointed, then we miss out on the glory that comes from putting hope and faith in the Lord. Not wanting to let our hearts hope is a form of self-protection, which I’ve always seen backfire for people.

But those who trust in the Lord let Him protect their hearts which allows them to relax and hope. Knowing that if it doesn’t go exactly as they hoped, then He must have something better.

The benefits of hope.

There’s an intimacy that knits our hearts even closer to the heart of the Lord’s when we hope for something. But deeper still, there’s a joy birthed in us when we just confidently know that what we hope for is a done deal because God promised it. When we know it’s the heart of the Father for us, we can stop begging God to bring it to pass. And instead, we can patiently expectantly hope for what’s to come, assured that it will come.

Don’t rush hope.

When we have a promise from God, we are no longer desperate beggars hoping for crumbs. Not at all! When we have a promise from God, we can walk as children of God knowing a full banquet is waiting for us and knowing full well that it will be worth the wait.

Can we rush the process and try to fulfill His promise on His behalf? Sure you can. Abraham and Sarah can tell you all about that. But it’s always better to wait patiently and trustingly for the gourmet scratch made banquet than to rush the promise by running through a fast-food line. I don’t know about you, but I want the good stuff and have no problem holding out for what’s to come when I know it’s so going to be much better.

Hope in something promised.

But if you don’t have a vision to hope for or a promise to cling to, then why just wait around for no good reason. Of course, you’ll just go through the fast-food line because you don’t know any better. I think many people often miss out on the banquet God prepared for them because they filled up on fast-food on the way. And sometimes, when all you eat is fast-food, you lose a taste for the finer things. (Eh hem. Binging scrolling social media instead of feasting on the Scroll of God’s Word.) We can lose a taste for what’s rich and healing and satisfying if we’re too full on junk food all the time.

If you don’t have yourself a promise from God, get yourself one! (Read more here). And if you do have a promise from God, wait patiently for it. Pray into it. Rest in it. Because if God said He will do it, it’s good as done.