What drives people to persevere in impossible situations? What motivates someone with a challenging diagnosis to keep fighting? Or to keep believing in a relationship after years of conflict? It’s the powerful sense of hope.
Hope propels us to do impossible things. Hope is vital for tackling the toughest obstacles, conquering challenges, and driving the change our world desperately needs.
Hope is powerful, yet a lack of hope is devastating.
Without hope, simple situations can turn into unsolvable problems. Hope is one of the greatest gifts you can be given and one of the most valuable things you can lose.
So, how's your hope? In this article, we’ll explore what biblical hope looks like and how we can find hope in God every day.
What Is Hope in the Bible?
In the Bible, hope is the wholehearted, evidence-based conviction that God is making the future better than the past or present.
Hope isn't a vague positivity or a naive optimism. Instead, true hope acknowledges our world's pain, problems, and dysfunctions. Hope knows the worst life has to offer, yet still believes that God can and will create a better future.
But what do you do when all the evidence in the world around you tells you that the future will only bring more pain? What about the violence, wars, and division we see every day?
Feeling Hopeless About the Future?
If you’re feeling hopeless about the future of the world, you’re not alone. Around 500 years before the time of Jesus, the people of God had been invaded, captured, and forcibly deported to a faraway nation. They were separated from their families, their homes, and for many, their hope.
Several biblical laments (songs of pain and suffering) were written by these people in exile. One lament was written by former musicians who had been forced into servitude.
Their captors asked them to play the music of their people, and they responded with despair, their words communicating, “How could we sing songs of hope and praise to God when our nation has experienced so much pain?”
When things go wrong, it feels like evidence that God is against us, ignoring us, or that He’s left humanity behind. But this couldn’t be further from the truth. Throughout their time in Babylon, the people of God not only survived but learned to thrive. They discovered that God was present in their pain and had a plan for their future.
One of the most famous Bible verses (Jeremiah 29:11) is about God’s plan for His people in exile. In that verse, He promises to give them hope and a future. And God delivered on His promise.
How Do I Find Hope in a Broken World?
Remember that pain isn’t evidence that God doesn’t care or that He’s far away. Pain is evidence that God is still working on His plan to make all things new.
God Is Present in Our Personal Pain
When God’s people were trapped in a faraway nation, many remained hopeful. Why? Because they knew God wasn’t done writing their story. In exile, they looked to evidence of God’s care from the past.
One of those stories was the story of Elijah, the prophet who lived a few generations before the exile.
Elijah’s greatest threat was the king and queen of Israel, Ahab and Jezebel. Throughout Elijah’s life, he told Ahab and Jezebel that their words and actions weren’t honoring God. But they didn’t listen. Instead, they doubled down on their violence and even attempted to have Elijah killed.
Despite immense pressure in a hostile environment, Elijah remained faithful to God. And through His work, God led many people to know Him.
But Elijah still had moments where his personal hope ran out. On one occasion, he felt intense despair after a dramatic showdown with rival prophets.
Despair is the opposite of hope. It’s the feeling that the world is against you and you’re doomed to fail. Have you ever felt despair?
Elijah hid in the wilderness and wished for death. But God met him in his despair and brought him food and water. Then He invited Elijah to go to a mountain. There, Elijah had a powerful encounter with God that reaffirmed God’s personal care. This experience renewed Elijah’s hope and gave him the strength he needed to continue his mission.
Hope is the wholehearted, evidence-based conviction that God is making the future better than the past or present.
Despair lies to us, telling us we’re alone and doomed to fail. But God offers hope. Again, hope is the wholehearted, evidence-based conviction that God is making the future better than the past or present.
Looking at how God provided for people in the past can give us hope for a better future today. For the people in exile, stories like Elijah’s strengthened their community, giving them the courage to face whatever opposition came their way. With their renewed strength, they continued to honor God in exile.
Do you feel despair today? Maybe it’s about a relationship you’re about to give up on or a dream that feels dead. No matter what it is, God wants to infuse you with hope. Sometimes, life doesn’t go our way and we face intense opposition. But God is still with us. We can face today confidently, believing that the best is yet to come.
How Do I Find Hope in My Personal Pain?
Remember how God has been faithful to you and others. You can do this through reflecting on your story, conversations with trusted friends, and continuing to explore Scripture.
God Is Making a Better Future
Over two thousand years ago, in a province of the Roman Empire called Judea, people were low on hope. Most of the evidence from the past told them to give up. A handful of powerful empires had steamrolled their people, and it seemed like their story was almost finished.
But God was still writing their story. And through prophets and ordinary people, His message of hope spread throughout Judea. A promise that He wouldn’t leave them alone in the darkness, but would come to save His people when the time was right.
How did He respond? By coming to Earth in flesh and blood.
You probably know how the story goes. A baby born in a manger, visitors from near and far, and God's abundant love and kindness on full display.
The hope God gives is like a source of light in a dark room. It might seem small, but it can make an impact. Jesus' birth was one small light in a dark world. Through His extraordinary life, hope began to spread. Jesus even called His followers the light of the world, inviting us to be hope-spreaders everywhere we go.
We spread hope by reminding people of who Jesus is and what He's done and inviting them to adopt Jesus' others-focused way of life—a life of generosity, forgiveness, and courage. When people see this kind of life, they can't help but feel hope that perhaps there is reason to believe that a better future is possible.
How Do I Bring Hope to Others?
As we bring hope to people, our hope is strengthened. If you need the hope of God in your life, try becoming a source of hope for others. Share good news, remind people of their identity, and encourage people who are hurting.
As residents of a broken world, we have plenty of reasons to feel despair. But as followers of Jesus, we have every reason to feel hope. Hope doesn't ignore pain—it simply recognizes that pain doesn't have the final word. So let's live with confident hope in God, trusting Him and partnering with Him in making the world a better place for all.