hope

There’s a thing I say a lot at work. I say it so much that people are starting to say it for me, before I can. If someone ever says “hopefully we’ll . . .” I say, “Hope is not a course of action.” I say that to remind them that, while they’re hoping for the best, they should be doing whatever they can to make that hoped-for thing a reality.

That’s a good business principle, but it’s less good theology. Faith-wise, hope is a great course of action, if it’s hope in Jesus.

Look at Romans 8:22-25: “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.”

Spiritual hope is much different than worldly hope. Worldly hope is a longing for an uncertain thing. “I hope it doesn’t snow.” “I hope I get a pony for my Birthday.” “I hope so-and-so asks me to prom.” “I hope we land that sale.” When we say things like that, we’re acknowledging that life is beyond our control, and that the things we want may or may not happen.

But when we hope in Jesus, the dialogue is completely different. It’s getting energy and willpower by looking forward to a certainty. We know, beyond any doubt, that Jesus’ sacrifice bought us saving righteousness, and we know our good and faithful God keeps his promises. Our future is guaranteed.

That’s the kind of hope that keeps you going when your kids make bad choices, when your parents start to fail, when your relationships fall apart, when business is bad. Because this is just temporary. We’re going to win. We can’t not win.

In Jesus, it’s impossible for us not to win in the end. That’s hope.