Hope

Dionne Warwick told us back in the sixties that “what the world needs now is love, sweet love. That’s the only thing that there’s just too little of.”  John Lennon followed that up with a popular Beatles song that told us that “all you need is love”. While the sentiments of both songs are profound, I would suggest that love is not ALL we need in these very trying times.

1 Corinthians 13, the love chapter, concludes with the following words. “

 And now there remain: faith [abiding trust in God and His promises], hope [confident expectation of eternal salvation], love [unselfish love for others growing out of God’s love for us], these three [the choicest graces]; but the greatest of these is love. (The Amplified Translation)

We are certainly living in extraordinary times of many hardships, difficulties, death, and despair. These conditions are causing all sorts of emotions - anger, fear, disbelief and discouragement and even hopelessness.

So - not to minimize even a tiny bit the importance and urgent need for love, sweet love - I suggest that what the world needs now, as well, is hope. We all need to believe that tomorrow will be a better day and that some kind normalcy will soon return.

Romans 8:24 and 25 says “For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope at all, for why does one also hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it”. Our hope is well rooted in certainly and assurance.

Faith and hope work together hand in hand. We can have hope because we have faith in the sure word of God and have conviction that His every word is Yea and Amen  If God says something will happen – it will – His promises are Yea and Amen without possibility of anything interfering with its being fulfilled. His promises will be fulfilled - It is not a matter of if but a matter of when.

Romans 15:13  “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit”.

 What the world is sorely lacking right now is hope. People have lost sight of any stability in life that there used to be. People have lost sight of the power of God to fulfill His promises. 

What the world needs now is hope. Make no mistake - Hope is not a lost entity.  Hope is still only a prayer away. A prayer that God will rekindle our faith and hope by the power of His spirit.

 Norman Vincent Peale wrote the following:

Here are some of the truest, most beautiful words ever written: “Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God” (Psalm 42:5).

Hope is a small word, but it is one of the most powerful. Why? Because in hope lies the power of the human soul to turn to God and live, knowing that His promises are going to come true. “Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD” (Psalm 31:24).

The key to surviving any challenge or crisis is hope. Hope that God is, right now, working out a solution for you. Hope that the future you place in His hands will be better than the present that you hold in your own. “’For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’” (Jeremiah 29:11).

Practice this hope, even if you have to will yourself to do it. With its power, you will overcome all things. “Those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint” (Isaiah 40:31).

And hope, that strong and confident assurance, rooted in the faithfulness and love of God, that we keep deep down in our hearts gives us strength and perseverance though all circumstances of life. Hope is our private quiet comforter. Without hope we can become complacent and not able to give our best to God and to the people around us.

 

Yes, the past couple of years certainly have been filled with difficult times and change, but remember – ALL things happen for a reason. God does not do things randomly. AND All things happen for good to those who love Him. We may not know why all things are happening and it really doesn’t matter why. But we can use the conditions that we live in now to – increase our faith, show love to all people and find comfort and hope in God’s immeasurable love and faithfulness.

 

“Let your hopes, not your hurts, shape your future.” – Robert H. Schuller

 

May God bless you.

Rich Leavitt