Is hope the same thing as “I Wish”?

 

1 Timothy 4:10-16

Is hope the same thing as “I Wish”?  When we look at hope from a Christian view, it is more than a wish it is a feeling of trust.  It is looking forward to what is hoped for, it is expectation, and yet our hope is not based on a feeling but on the living God.  Many do not have hope, some who call themselves Christian, base eternity with the Lord on how well they perform, or on some rules laid out by man, and their hope is not centered in the promises of God, but in self.  The apostle is telling us do not put your hope in anything but the faithfulness of God the Father and Jesus Christ His only Son.

The hope that Paul is telling Timothy about is established in confidence that God is a promise keeper.  Living the Christian life comes with many challenges; it is a life that runs opposite of the culture, and often the apostle Paul was an example of how it brings pain and suffering into our life.  2 Timothy 1:12, is a great example, “That is why I am suffering as I am.  Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.”  The prophet Isaiah had this to say about hope centered in the faith that God is a promise keeper; “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.” (Isaiah 12:2) 

If you watch the news, it matters not if it’s “fair and balanced” or not, it is not uplifting, its message is about fear of what is coming, its message is often an example of foolish people who have placed hope in a political party, a movement, or even a person.  And when examined by someone without an agenda, but based on facts, we find that often those with all the answers, those we believed in were not telling the truth, they just wanted to buy power or influence.

To have unity in a marriage, family, community, church, or nation, requires love, and not the love of self.  What does a person look like that is full of self; they are not kind, not patient, they envy, they boast, they are rude, self-seekers, angry, and they use these as tools to divide all of the groups listed above.  To have division it works best to destroy trust in the marriage, family, community, church, or nation, and today we are seeing the fruits of that lived out in our Nation, and many others all over the world.  But as Christians we should not lose hope but rejoice, because Jesus foretold that in the last days this would take place.  Listen to David in Psalm 56:1-4, “Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me; all day long an attacker oppresses me; my enemies trample on me all day long, for many attack me proudly.  When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.  In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.  What can flesh do to me?”

It comes down to, where do you put your hope?  If it is in a political party, some person, our military, or your 401K, or anything but God, you are in for some real bad times.  A prayer of hope, “Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths.  Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.” (Psalm 25:4-5)

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice