HOPE

"But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.

1 Peter 3: 15

What do you hope for? What do you hope for your children and your grandchildren? I have to admit, I hope for health and a long life. I hope my golf game gets back to where it once was. I hope my children and grandchildren will be happy and find God's purpose for their life. I hope they take care of me when I do get old. But, I also hope that one day I will actually be able to surrender all I have to God. I hope that before I die I will have God first place in my life daily. We all have our hopes. Most of the things we hope for seem to center around what we need to make us happy. Even our spiritual hopes sometimes are too self - centered. But the more important issue is the reason for our hope.

I want my children and grandchildren to realize the reason for their hope is not just in the temporal things of this world, but in the eternal things that never pass away or disappoint. When we see our hopes drifting away, it is easy to get discouraged and eventually loose hope. Our souls cry out and we may think no one hears those cries. For most people, an absence of hope means we have placed the reason for our hope on too much expectations in what this temporal life has to offer and not enough on what the eternal life affords us. It is hard to find anyone who could find themselves without hope more than Job. Yet, in all his misery, Job proclaimed; "Though He slay me, yet will I hope in Him." (Job 13: 15) 

Joshua and the Israelites had hoped to reach the promise land forty years earlier. But God, in His infinite wisdom and judgement, would not allow it to come to pass until the they understood the real reason for their hope. It is now God's time, they are standing at the threshold of seeing their life long hope come to reality. We can look at the words of God to the people of Israel and find three reasons for their hope in the Lord. In the 1st chapter of Joshua, verse three states; " I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses." One reason we can have hope is because God never breaks His promises. The Bible is full of promises from God. They are there to give us guidance, inspiration, and a hope for all eternity. 2 Peter 1: 3 tells us that God has "given to us his very great and precious promises."  Our hope is not in what this world claims to promise us, but in the unwavering promises of God. "The Lord is faithful to His promises." Psalm 145:13

God also gave Joshua and his people reason for hope in that He would always be with them. "As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you."  Joshua 1:5 There is nothing like having a loyal friend to walk with you in good times and especially in bad times. They are someone we can count on any time of the day and night. They share our joys and triumphs as well as our sorrows and heartaches. Jesus is that kind of friend. He is the Master of the universe, the Creator of all things, the One who holds all the keys to wisdom and knowledge, the Warrior who is willing to fight our battles with us and give us absolute victory. This Jesus will never leave us nor forsake us. He is our reason to hope.

And finally, we can hope in the Lord because of His Word. God tells Joshua; "Be careful to obey all the laws my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go." It has to be comforting to know that there is an instruction book from God to guide us through life. It has the wisdom and knowledge contained in it for all generations and for all circumstances in life. God goes on to say; " Do not let this Book of the law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful."

Yes, we can have hope. It is a hope in a God who never breaks a promise, a hope in a God who will never leave or forsake us, and a hope in the one true God who has given us His Word on the past, the present, and the future to come. Let's live our lives so that the hope we have will be something other people and generations to come will want to pick up on. They will see something distinctive about this generation of believers and will be prompted to ask what is this distinction.