Hope is a quality that lives shadowed by hopelessness in many corners of our world today. St. Paul assured the world that, along with faith and love, hope endures for eternity. (Corinthians 13:13) Hope motivates human beings to pursue the thing hoped for, and the Bible asserts that hope originates in God: “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) These are words of God sent to a people in exile who had no source of hope but in the words of their God. The condition of their lives was bereft of any visible, tangible hope of returning to their homeland but the words of hope entered and renewed them. For thousands of years believers in God have turned to this scripture for the hope that it promises.

Hope is grasped by the Psalmist who expressed the life-giving hope of God: I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in His word I put my hope. . .Israel, put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love, and with Him is full redemption. ( Psalm 130:5&7) The fact that hope comes from God means that it carries with it eternity. Paul wrote that hope “endures” because it comes from God Himself.

When Corrie Ten Boom was in a prison in Germany during World War II, she and all the other women in her section were ordered to stand at attention out doors on a very cold morning wearing only the thin cotton dresses they had been given. The were ordered to stand at attention for more than an hour. Many of the women collapsed but Corrie stood, and silently prayed. Suddenly she heard above her head the song of a meadow lark. The bird flew back and forth over the enclosure for some length of time, and Corrie was reminded of Jesus. She never doubted that the Holy Spirit had visited that very desolate place that morning. It gave her hope in Him. In fact, she finally did leave the prison , and became a world wide missionary of the hope in Christ.

Hope is a wellspring given us by God, by which we find strength to endure hardships and anticipate joy and goodness. Paul wrote that hope endures because it comes from God. If so, then hope can be a gift we may ask of God. “ In that day (after the resurrection) you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. No, the Father Himself loves you because you have loved me” (John 16:26,27) In times like ours we would not go wrong to ask our God for hope.

Love in Him,

Prue