Hope

Remember being a child? I do. Although now I long for the ease of childhood, when I was a child, all I wanted to do was grow up. My friends and I would play House, but with a twist. We'd pretend that the climbing trees in my yard were homes and each of us (sometimes paired) would live in each tree and be neighbors. Our bikes were our cars that got us to our neighbors' houses and to and from work. Of course, since none of us really knew what kind of jobs adults had, we would mostly skip over that part. Usually, a bike ride around the yard meant we'd gone to work and come back. At home (our trees), we'd do the things we observed our parents accomplish: cook dinner, read magazines and the newspaper, do the dishes, etc.

While pretending to be adults, we had this expectation of actually being adults one day. We knew we growing older every year and that it was only a matter of time before we too would have jobs, cars and responsibilities. All we needed to do was wait long enough.

In Scripture, this is called hope. Don't get this word confused with "wish." According to Dictionary.com, "wish" means to "desire, want and long for." On the surface, it seems that wishing is fine. Sure, we wanted, desired and longed to be adults as kids. However, the word "hope" adds a detail that's vital to its meaning. According to Websters Dictionary, hopes means, "a desire of some good, accompanied with at least a slight expectation of obtaining it."  The Hebrew term for hope varies, sense the word doesn't exist in this language. Instead, we translate words like "trust" and the like into "hope." In Greek, the words "hope" and "wait" mean to expect or trust. It's not just that we wanted to be adults, we expected to be adults eventually.

With these definitions in mind, look closely at these verses.
Psalms 39:7 "And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you."
Psalms 62:5 "For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him."
Romans 8:25 "But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience."

I was personally struck with this when I ran across Galatians 5:5, "But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope." You see, I'm often very down on myself and don't believe I could ever be righteous. I listen to Satan's accusation of my past, and I waver. I may want to be righteous, but I hardly expect to be one day.
This verse was like a rush of cool water to a soar throat. God told me, as I read his Word, that I should expect to receive righteousness through the Spirit. This is a promise that he would fulfill.  Not by my efforts, of course, but by the Spirit that God has given freely. The Spirit I know is living within me. I need to trust that God loves me and will do as he says he will.

So when I, or you, if you are like me, feel like there is no hope in the world, we need to say to ourselves, "Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?  Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. (Psalms 43:5)"